Iran has rejected accusations by the Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, on Sunday that the Islamic republic was trying to export its Islamic ideology to Turkey.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, quoted by the official news agency IRNA, denied any interference by Iran in Turkey's internal affairs. He added that respecting people's values and beliefs was required to establish democracy. Mr Ecevit's remarks came after demonstrations in the Iranian capital, Tehran, supporting a Turkish member of parliament, Merve Kavakci, who was banned from the chamber for attempting to wear an Islamic headscarf there in defiance of Turkey's secular tradition.