Top Iranian, Turkish Commanders Discuss Security, Regional Issues in Ankara

During the meeting in the Turkish capital on Tuesday, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri and his Turkish counterpart, General Hulusi Akar explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating mutual cooperation in defense fields.

"As one of the important neighbors of Iran, Turkey enjoys a prominent status in the region and the Muslim world,” General Baqeri said.

He added that the two countries’ military officials had not exchanged such visits for a long time, but he decided to make the trip to Ankara in view of the current developments in the region, issues pertaining to bilateral security, and the need to continue the fight against terrorism.

Baqeri arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for a three-day visit at the head of a high-ranking politico-military delegation. He said his trip was aimed at discussing enhanced cooperation on military and regional issues.

The top Iranian commander plans to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli and other senior officials during his visit.

It is a first visit by an Iranian chief of staff of the Armed Forces to Turkey.

Iran is fighting both Kurdistan Workers' Party militants and a PKK offshoot known as PJAK in its northwestern border region with Turkey.

PJAK terrorists randomly carry out hit-and-run attacks on Iranian targets, after which they retreat to their lairs in Iraq and Turkey.

Iranian and Turkish officials in a meeting in Ankara in 2014 signed an agreement to boost security along the two countries' borderline.

The border security agreement was signed between Iranian Governor of Chaldoran region Karim Hosseinzadeh and Turkey's Agri Province Governor Mohammad Takin Arsalan on the sidelines of a joint periodic security commission in the Turkish capital.

The periodic meetings of Iran-Turkey border security commission are held every four months either in Tehran or Ankara in the presence of provincial officials from Iran's Chaldoran and Maku regions as well as Turkey's Agri and Igdir provinces.