The reflections of Turkey-Iran relations on the Iranian press: The case of Keyhan newspaper (2014-2019)

The geostrategic positions of Turkey and Iran along with their significant roles in the Middle East have occasionally turned them against one another. Although this paradigm in bilateral relations has a centuries-long history, it became even more obvious with the foundation of the republic in Turkey in 1923 and of the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran in 1925 to unfold a new period based on nations states in both countries. In the following years, although Turkey and Iran experienced problems around border issues, they also made significant moves to improve their relations. Cooperation in bilateral relations, which increased rapidly after 2002, was overshadowed by regional competition with the inception of the Arab Spring. The two countries had particularly conflicting positions over the Syrian crisis which seriously hurt their relations. Also, the political tension between Turkey and Iran increased steadily with the further escalation of the Syrian domestic war. The press in both countries, especially in Iran, adde to the already existing tension. As a result of the cooperation expectations from both countries since 2016, Turkey and Iran along with Russia started talks for the solution of the Syrian crisis and a number of summits were held within the framework of the Astana process. During this process, the Iranian press maintained its critical position towards Turkey with only temporary modifications. This study analyzes the position of the Iranian press towards Turkey for the years between 2014 and 2019 by focusing on the Keyhan newspaper which is controlled by Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, to show how this newspaper followed the developments in the relations. Since Keyhan's editor-in-chief is appointed by Khamenei, the newspaper can be viewed as reflecting his views which adds substantially to its importance. Keywords: Turkish-Iran Relations, Iranian Press, Keyhan Newspaper, Syrian Domestic War, Turkey-Russia-Iran Summits