A Turkish press report says Turkey will remove Iran from a watchlist of nations it considers as threats to its national security. The newspaper Milliyet reported Monday that Turkey also will remove Russia, Iraq and Greece as primary threats in the so-called Red Book - a national security policy document.
The report said the updated list is part of a security review by Turkey's National Security Council, which will be adopted in October. The national security document was last revised in 2005, when Islamic fundamentalism and Kurdish separatism were considered the greatest threats to Turkish security.
Turkey and Iran are active trading partners in the energy sector. Turkey already buys a third of its gas imports from Iran and is looking to expand its relationship to power sales and the transit of Iranian gas to Europe.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.