From Robin Pomeroy, Reuters:  A key aide to Iran’s supreme leader said on Saturday Turkey must radically rethink its policies on Syria, the NATO missile shield and promoting Muslim secularism in the Arab world — or face trouble from its own people and neighbors.

In an interview with the semi-official Mehr news agency, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s military adviser described Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation to Arab countries to adopt Turkish-style democracy as "unexpected and unimaginable. . . ."

 "The behavior of Turkish statesmen toward Syria and Iran is wrong and, I believe, they are acting in line with the goals of America," Major-General Yahya Rahim-Safavi told Mehr.

"If Turkey does not distance itself from this unconventional political behavior it will have both the Turkish people turning away from it domestically and the neighboring countries of Syria, Iraq and Iran (reassessing) their political ties. . . ."

 But it is Turkey’s decision to deploy a NATO missile early warning system that has most angered Tehran, which sees this as a U.S. ploy to protect Israel from any counter-attack should the Jewish state target Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Rahim-Safavi said trade ties with Turkey — which is an importer of Iranian gas and exporter of an array of manufactured goods — would be in jeopardy if Ankara does not change tack.

"If Turkish political leaders fail to make their foreign policy and ties with Iran clear, they will run into problems. If, as they claim, they intend to raise the volume of contracts with Iran to the $20 billion mark, they will ultimately have to accommodate Iran."  (photo: IRNA/20minutos)

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