Hulusi Akar

Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli and the U.S. Secretary of State James Mattis discussed the issue of Iran's "malign influence in the region" on Aug. 23, according to a statement released from the Pentagon.

Mattis and Canikli discussed the topic during the former's visit to Ankara, where he also held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has requested to be an intervening party in the key case on events at the Akıncı Air Base, considered the commanding center of Turkey's July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

A joint military operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Kandil region along the Iraq-Iran border is on the agenda, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated.

"Taking joint action with Iran is always on the agenda," Erdoğan told reporters on Aug. 21 before departing on a trip to Jordan. 

Iran's chief of general staff, Major General Mohammad Hossein Bageri, became the first Iranian top soldier since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 to visit Turkey on Aug. 15. Bageri held talks with his Turkish counterpart General Hulusi Akar, but not only with Akar.

Ankara and Tehran have agreed on sharing intelligence and cooperating operationally in the fight against terror, Iran's Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Mohamed Baqeri has said. 

Iran's Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Mohamed Baqeri kicked off his three-day Turkey visit on Aug. 15 with a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Hulusi Akar, with the security situation in the region dominating the agenda.

One of the top suspects in the key case on the July 2016 coup attempt, former Major General Mehmet Dişli, has said he was following the orders of Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar during events at the Akıncı Air Base, considered to be the command center of the coup. 

Iran's Chief of General Staff Maj Gen Mohamed Baqeri is due to hold talks in Ankara with top Turkish officials, in a rare visit in which all regional security issues, the fight against terrorism, and developments in Syria and Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurds' upcoming independence referendum, will be discussed. 

Turkey's EU Ministry has appealed to the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court to become an intervening party in the case on events at the Akıncı air base during last year's coup attempt on the grounds that the coup plotters were aiming to topple the government and ruin Turkey's ties with the EU. 

One of the top suspects in the critical trial on events at the Akıncı Air Base, considered the command center of Turkey's July 2016 coup attempt, has denied any links to the network of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.