Hulusi Akar

Turkey is ready to open a channel for dialogue to solve its problems with Greece "peacefully," the country's Defense Minister, Hulusi Akar, said in an interview to the Anadolu news agency Sunday.

Russia and Ukraine both are positive for extending the grain deal once more, and Ankara believes that the process will continue with the second extension, the Turkish defense minister has said.

Disputes with Greece can be peacefully resolved through dialogue, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, while expressing his optimism over the sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. 

As part of the effort to maintain open channels of communication between Greek and Turkish officials, the defense ministers of both countries, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and Hulusi Akar, spoke on the phone on Thursday, with both agreeing to develop an agenda based on good-neighborly relations and international law. 

Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos held a telephone call with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar on Thursday in which the two men highlighted the importance of keeping lines of communication between the two countries, as well as bilateral meetings, to create an environment of trust and co-operation.

Straight from the playbook of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his Defense Minister Hulusi Akar engaged in new a round of accusations against Greece on Thursday, claiming it is "escalating provocative actions."

Once again he reiterated the Turkish claim that Greece "is violating treaties by militarizing its islands with demilitarized status," during a visit to eastern Turkey.

A rocket attack was carried out on the Basika Base of the Turkish military in northern Iraq early on Feb. 1, while Defense Minister Hulusi Akar detailing that the army is "responding in fold."

Some 506 PKK terrorists have been neutralized so far in the Operation Claw-Lock, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has stated, adding that the Zap region in northern Iraq has been largely cleared of terrorists.

Türkiye cannot stay silent against the anti-İslam and anti-Türkiye protests that were held in Stockholm over the weekend, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said, calling on Sweden and Finland to fully fulfill the commitments they made in the trilateral agreement for them to join NATO.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday that a planned visit by his Swedish counterpart to Ankara has been cancelled after Swedish authorities granted permission for protests in Stockholm.

"At this point, the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson to Turkey on January 27 has become meaningless. So we cancelled the visit," Akar said.