In an article recently published in the Guardian and referenced here: Huffington Post Link, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan references overtures made to him by the Iranian government to begin facilitating talks with the United States.
Prime Minister Erdogan indicates that this overture was made back in December, but he outlined his intention to bring it up with the Obama administration at the upcoming G20 summit in April.
Asked if Turkey could play a mediating role in overcoming mistrust between Washington and Tehran, Erdogan replied: "Iran does want Turkey to play such a role. And if the United States also wants and asks us to play this role, we are ready to do this. They [the Iranians] said to us that if something like this [an opportunity for rapprochement] would happen, they want Turkey to play a role. These were words that were said openly. But I have told this to President Bush myself."
The article goes on to note how Iran and Turkey share extensive trade relations totaling £ 5.5bn annually, and mentions specifically the substantial amount of natural gas purchased by Turkey. Furthermore it references comments made by Dennis Ross last Fall about the need to establish a back channel for the US to begin such negotiations.
Erdogan's remarks came as the US state department finally appointed the veteran Clinton administration diplomat Dennis Ross as a special envoy responsible for tackling the difficult Iran issue. Ross, whose experience has been in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has been given the title of special adviser to the Gulf and south-west Asia. In an article published last September, Ross advocated that the initial approach to Iran should be through a "direct, secret back channel".
Certainly the Obama administration will need to proceed cautiously, but the public willingness of Turkey to facilitate an approach is extremely helpful. Turkey holds significant ties to Europe and the United States, while at the same time has maintained a very friendly border with Iran for centuries. Moreover, one of the more significant language groups in Iran is Turkish. Although the dialects spoken in Northwestern Iran are not the same as what would be spoken in Ankara they are definitely derivative. A useful source of Iranian languages can be found here: Iran's Language Groups
Since the time of Ataturk, Turkey has maintained a bridge position between the West and the Middle East. Although Turkey has certainly had problems of their own, Cyprus (Greece), an Armenians minority, etc. they have maintained a relatively moderate foreign policy in a extremely volatile surrounding environment that was not helped at all by Bush Administration policies. Come April and the G20, there may be more cause for hope in the region.