Hulusi Akar

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an decided to host a hastily arranged security meeting with top officials on Feb. 9, as Turkey struggles to cope with the latest influx of refugees from Syria and ongoing operations against militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeast.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala met with John Bass, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, on Jan. 7 to discuss recent matters on border security and the fight against terrorism, the embassy said on its Twitter account. 

The Turkish army has expressed concerns to the United States' top military figure over Syrian Kurdish groups' attempts to create a "Kurdish corridor" in northern Syria and change the demographic structure of the region to the advantage of Kurds. 

The United States' top commander arrived in Ankara on Jan. 5 for a meeting with his Turkish counterpart amid an escalation in regional tensions.

Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, was welcomed at Ankara's Esenbo?a Airport by Turkish and American officials. 

The United States' top commander will pay a visit to Ankara on Jan. 5 for a meeting with his Turkish counterpart amid heightened regional tensions.

A security summit helmed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu was held Dec. 31 in the Turkish capital Ankara with the participation of senior military and government officials. 

The five-hour meeting focused on the struggle against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), particularly the ongoing clashes in southeastern Diyarbak?r's Sur district, according to officials.  

The historical district of Sur in Diyarbak?r has now been subject to a curfew for the past month amid continuing clashes between the security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in the area.

Diyarbak?r's Sur district has turned into a zone of continued clashes with a curfew in effect since Dec. 2, apart from a break of only 17 hours on Dec. 10. 

The Health Ministry will deploy armored ambulances in Turkey's southeastern and eastern provinces, where clashes between security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have intensified, Minister Mehmet Müezzino?lu has said. 

 "Armored vehicles will serve in those regions," said Müezzion?lu during an interview on broadcaster TGRT late Dec. 23. 

At least 68 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been killed in ongoing operations in the southeastern province of ??rnak over the last four days, a security official said on Dec. 19.

The country's top soldier, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, meanwhile, paid a surprise visit to the province amid the operations.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Aziz Sancar met with President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar in Ankara on Dec. 15, stating again that he will present his medal and certificate to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic.