Akar

The Turkish defense minister says Russia will resume the delivery of its S-400 missile defense system to Turkey this week.
Turkey took delivery of the first part of the Russian system last month despite strong objections from the United States, which had been pressing Turkey to cancel the deal with Russia and has threatened sanctions against Turkey.

A joint Turkish-U.S. operation center to establish and manage a safe zone in northeast Syria is fully operational, Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Aug. 24.

The Joint Operations Center, to coordinate actions in the Syria safe zone, will start functioning from next week, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced on Aug. 16.

Turkey may act on its own in northern Syria to create a safe zone if a deal with the United States does not work as wanted, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said, speaking of "plan B and plan C" to clear territories in the east of the Euphrates River.

Turkey expects the second shipment of S-400 defense missile system to be delivered in August or September, the country's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said, according to reports.
"The second S-400 squadron is expected to be delivered in August or September," Akar was quoted as saying.

Aboard the frigate accompanying the Yavuz drilling vessel in the Eastern Mediterranean, Hulusi Akar and commanders were briefed about Turkey's activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean seas.         

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said at the weekend that it is necessary for Turkey to keep its troops on Cyprus to exercise its rights as a guarantor power.
Akar, who visited Turkish troops on the island on Saturday, said that when Turkey talks of peace, the Greeks see it as weakness, while when Turkey says it will not accept faits accomplis, they see it as a threat.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Aug. 7 that talks with the United States aimed at averting a Turkish military intervention into northern Syria had been "positive," according to state news agency Anadolu.

In a further escalation of tensions with Cyprus, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has ruled out any possibility that Ankara will give up its guarantor status on the island and said that it will continue its illegal drilling activities there.
Turkey, Akar said, is a guarantor power on Cyprus and "will continue to use this right as it has in the past."

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has reportedly reiterated Ankara's rejection of calls by Cyprus and Greece for a scrapping of the system of guarantees that were established when the island gained independence from Britain in 1960.