Akar

Turkey's first female general candidate, Bilgehan Bülbül, has been detained upon her return from a recent visit to the Kardak islets, where she accompanied Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, on charges of being a member of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), who are widely believed to have been the perpetrators of the July 15 coup attempt. 

Turkey's top soldier and entire military brass have visited Kardak, twin islets in the Aegean whose disputed sovereignty brought Ankara and Athens to the brink of a war in 1996, in a bid to deliver multiple messages to Greece.

Opposition parties gave different reactions to the Jan. 29 visit of Turkey's top brass to the Aegean islets of Kardak, which is claimed by Turkey and Greece, with the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) criticizing the move but the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) praising it.

The government is treading carefully, aiming not to further escalate tensions with Ankara after a Turkish gunboat carrying Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar sailed into Greek waters and around the Imia islets on Sunday.

A Turkish gunboat reportedly carrying Hulusi Akar, the Turkish armed forces' Chief of Staff, entered Greek waters on Sunday morning, English-language Kathimerini reports.

Greece's own armed forces were put on high alert over the development, with authorities seeing the move near disputed islands as a "provocation".

Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar on Jan. 29 paid a visit to the disputed Aegean islets of Kardak, the Turkish Armed Forces has announced.

The Greek military was on high alert on Sunday after a Turkish gunboat carrying Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar sailed into Greek waters and around the Imia islets at around 10.30 a.m.

The Turkish gunboat was escorted by several assault craft carrying commandos, which also circled the islets that brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war 21 years ago, almost to the day.

According to reports, a Turkish fast attack craft has approached the island complex of Imia in Greek waters. The Turkish chief of General Staff, Hulusi Akar was reportedly on board the vessel. Imia is located on the southwestern mainland coast of Turkey and was the region at the centre of an incident that nearly led to a full blown naval conflict between Greece and Turkey in 1996.

Parliament's coup investigation commission, set up to probe Turkey's failed July 15, 2016 military takeover bid, wrapped up its work on Jan. 4, amid opposition criticism that the commission was ineffective and left many details of the coup attempt in the dark. 

A parliamentary commission investigating the July 15 coup attempt has directed 10 questions to Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was abducted by putschist soldiers during the foiled attempt before being saved together with other members of the top brass, according to broadcaster NTV.

The questions are as follows: 

- How did you learn about the coup attempt?