Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was expected to make his first visit to Turkey today, hoping the two countries will put aside past differences and form a joint response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

However, today the Turkish presidency announced that Raisi’s planned visit was cancelled, without giving any further details.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced Raisi’s visit in mid-November, pointing out that its aim is for Ankara and Tehran to agree on a common position on the war in Gaza.

A staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke out in support of Hamas as the death toll in the Gaza Strip mounted after Israeli bombardment of the enclave in retaliation for the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack that killed 1,200 people. .

At least 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began on October 7.

Erdogan has called Israel a “terrorist state” and has assessed that Hamas is “a group of liberators protecting their land”.

But the meetings of the leaders of Muslim and Arab countries have so far failed to reach an agreement on the adoption of direct economic and political measures against Israel for its operation in Gaza.

According to analysts, the Iranian president may during his visit try to convince Ankara to go beyond words and cut off its trade relations with Israel.

“Iran expects Turkey to suspend its direct and indirect trade transactions with Israel,” estimates the director of the Center for Iranian Studies in Istanbul, Haki Uygur.

“Turkey, however, has adopted an approach in which it is very careful to separate political from commercial issues,” he adds.

Raishi’s visit comes as Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their four-day truce until Thursday, which saw the release of dozens of hostages held by the Palestinian movement and Palestinian prisoners.

Complicated story

Turkey and Iran share a 535-kilometer border and a complicated history marked by close economic ties but also disagreements over regional conflicts.

Ankara supports rebel groups in Syria fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Tehran and Moscow.

Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan in its territorial dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which Baku captured in its most recent blitzkrieg operation, has also irked Iran.

Tehran worries that Baku’s rise to power in the Caucasus region could fuel separatist aspirations of its own Azeri minority.

Moreover, Iran is suspicious of Azerbaijan’s ambitions to create a corridor through Armenian territory to the Nakhichevan enclave along Iran’s northern border, which could complicate Tehran’s access to Armenia.

“The biggest disagreement between Turkey and Iran concerns the Caucasus and Nagorno-Karabakh,” confirms Arif Keskin, an Ankara-based research expert on Iran-Turkey relations.

“With the conflict in Gaza this issue takes a backseat, but it remains important,” he adds.

“Sustainable Peace”

According to the Turkish presidency, Erdogan had a phone call on Sunday with the Iranian president on “the common position against Israel’s violence.”

According to a Eurasia Group report, “Iran is reluctant to intervene in the current crisis in the Middle East and will likely avoid any action that could exacerbate it.”

And Erdogan has repeatedly expressed concern about the possibility of the war spreading.

“Iran and Turkey will continue to work together so that the temporary truce becomes permanent and sustainable peace is achieved,” the Turkish presidency stressed after the two leaders’ telephone conversation.