Iran–Turkey relations Iran–Turkey relations The relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey have been generally peaceful since the establishment of the modern states, but sometimes have also been strained. Iran and Turkey are major trade partners. Turkey and Iran have heavy mutual influence on each other, due to geographical proximity, linguistic and ethnic relations (e.g. Azerbaijanis, a Turkic people, are the second largest ethnicity in Iran and Kurds, an Iranic people, are the second largest ethnicity in Turkey) many common cultural aspects, shared empires, and conquering by such as the Parthians, Achaemenids, Sassanians, Seljuks, Safavids, Afsharids, Ottomans
Azerbaijanis in Turkey Azerbaijanis in Turkey Azerbaijanis in Turkey or Turkish Azerbaijanis () are Azerbaijani people in Turkey, and are Turkish citizens and permanent residents of ethnic Azerbaijani background. It is hard to determine how many ethnic Azerbaijanis currently reside in Turkey because ethnicity is a rather fluid concept in this country. According to some sources, there are about 800,000 Twelver Shias in Turkey, however this figure may differ substantially from the real one. Looklex Encyclopaedia puts the number of Azerbaijanis in Turkey at 800,000. Up to 300,000 of Azerbaijanis who reside in Turkey are citizens of Azerbaijan. In the Eastern Anatolia Region,