Alwaght- Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri on Monday held talks and attended a joint press conference with Turkish Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar, who arrived in Tehran Sunday night ahead of a scheduled visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iran.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart General Hulusi Akar in Tehran on Monday, Major General Baqeri said they discussed a range of issues in their meeting earlier in the day.
Major General Baqeri pointed to common threats against Iran and Iraq and said the two countries have “common and similar” positions on the recent independence referendum held in the Kurdistan region and believe that it was unacceptable. Tehran and Ankara also believed that Iraq’s territorial integrity must be preserved, he added.
In defiance of Iraq’s stiff opposition, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) held a non-binding referendum on September 25 on secession from the central government in Baghdad.
Major General Baqeri said he had held discussions with his Turkish counterpart on the latest achievements made by the Iraqi and Syrian armed forces in the campaign against ISIS and expressed hope they would help Damascus and Baghdad to restore security to their countries.
“We also held negotiations about [ways] to counter terrorism in the region and [promote] the two countries’ border security and made good decisions,” the top Iranian commander pointed out.
He added that the two sides also explored avenues for military cooperation to assist the Muslim people in Myanmar and in Islamic countries.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces also noted that the Iranian and Turkish armed forces would boost cooperation in training troops, hold joint military exercises and share experience on border security.
Major General Baqeri paid an official three-day visit to Turkey in mid-August at the head of a high-ranking politico-military delegation. It was the first visit by an Iranian chief of staff of the Armed Forces to Turkey.
The top Turkish commander, for his part, said Iran and Turkey agreed to continue the fight against terrorism and increase security in border areas and added that the two countries would boost military cooperation.
General Akar hailed the age-old “friendship and fraternity” between Turkey and Iran, saying the two countries work in cooperation given the delicate regional conditions.
