By Tim Arango and Sebnem Arsu, New York Times, Nov. 1, 2013

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey and Iran, on opposing sides of the civil war in Syria, signaled a thaw in relations on Friday, asserting that they shared concerns about the rise in sectarianism there and could collaborate to bring peace to their neighbor.

The softening, reflected in the Iran foreign minister’s visit to Turkey, came as the international community was working toward talks to end the Syrian conflict. Turkish officials appeared to be trying to position themselves as a bridge between the West and Iran on Syria, as Turkey has done on the Iranian nuclear issue.

In an afternoon meeting here between Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister [....]

Photo credit/caption: Associated Press; Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, met with his counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, in Istanbul on Friday.