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The present-day Turkey is the successor of the Ottoman Empire that has committed the Armenian Genocide, Iranian political analyst Sadegh Maleki told irdiplomacy.ir news outlet in an interview.

According to the source, Maleki spoke of Turkey’s regional policy, saying: “The present-day Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire which committed the Armenian Genocide, is the main force standing behind the violence unfolding in Iraq and Syria. Turkey wouldn’t provoke a crisis in both Iraq and Syria, should Sunnis were in control of the power in those states.”

To remind, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif earlier accused Turkish officials for being entangled in the consequences of their “past mistakes” and in attempt to play a blame game by making accusations against Iran. “[Our] friends [in Turkey] apparently have a weak memory...,” he has said in one of interviews. “They both have a poor memory and are ungrateful toward those who have been kind to them and supportive of them.”

Zarif’s remarks came in response to improper accusations of Turkish officials regarding the Iranian policy. In a speech at the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 19, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized what he called an Iranian “sectarian policy” in the region. Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had accused Iran of promoting “Persian nationalism.”

After the remarks, Iran summoned the Turkish ambassador to Tehran for a diplomatic rebuke. The Iranian foreign ministry had also warned that there was a certain ceiling to Tehran’s patience with the Turkish government.