Turkish Chief of Staff Visits Tehran Ahead of Erdogan's Meeting with Rouhani and Khamenei

Hulusi Akar, the Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Army, arrived in Tehran at midnight on October 1 for discussions with Iranian officials. Reports indicate that the referendum in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and Syria are among the topics of conversation between General Akar and Iranian officials. The President of Turkey is set to meet with Hassan Rouhani and Ali Khamenei in Tehran on October 4. Akar's visit to Tehran comes at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart. Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, had met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other military and government officials in Turkey on August 16. Although specific details of that meeting were not disclosed, discussions took place shortly before the referendum in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Iran and Turkey, along with the central government of Iraq, the United States, and several other countries, have expressed their opposition to the referendum. Officials from the Kurdistan region, on the other hand, have emphasized the need for voting, stating that the ultimate way to protect Kurdish citizens is the independence of this region. In recent days, Iraq has conducted military exercises in its border areas with both Turkey and Iran or has planned to do so. The Tasnim news agency reported that Akar's visit aims to 'advance agreements made in Ankara' and to discuss 'regional conditions, especially Syria, counter-terrorism, border security, and the issue of Iraqi Kurdistan.' The Turkish state news agency reported that General Akar is scheduled to meet with President Rouhani, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and Amir Hatami, Iran's Minister of Defense, to discuss issues such as 'border security, counter-terrorism, and regional matters.' Akar's visit comes as Turkish President Erdogan is also expected to meet with senior Iranian officials in Tehran soon. According to Erdogan, the 'High Strategic Cooperation Council' of the two countries will convene during this visit, and discussions will take place regarding 'the situation in northern Iraq.' Erdogan stated that he will meet with Rouhani and Khamenei, and 'then we will seriously outline the roadmap.' On Sunday, the IRNA news agency quoted Ahmad Alireza Beigi, head of the Iran-Turkey parliamentary friendship group, stating that 'Iran and Turkey are two major regional powers,' and Erdogan's visit 'could help bring the positions of the two countries closer in various fields.' The recent warming of relations between Tehran, Moscow, and Ankara was not taken seriously in previous assessments and interpretations. While Turkey had shot down a Russian fighter jet, its president had stated that 'Ankara will not tolerate Iran's dominance in the Middle East.' Iran and Russia are among the main supporters of Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey supports some of Assad's opponents. Officials from all three countries had previously made harsh verbal attacks against each other, including accusations of Ankara's 'cooperation' with ISIS and 'Turkey and the Gulf countries being fed up' with Tehran's actions. Currently, Turkey, Iran, and Russia are engaged in negotiations regarding the Syrian crisis in Astana. The Russian president recently visited Ankara, and the Turkish president is also on his way to Tehran. In this context, Putin and Erdogan will discuss Iraq and Syria in Ankara, and Iran and Iraq will conduct joint military exercises in the northern half of their borders. Defense of dozens of Iranian lawyers for the independence referendum in Kurdistan, the reaction of the leader of Hezbollah Lebanon to the independence referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, changes in the battlefield of 'proxies'; war against the people in the streets of Iran, the first paragraph; responsibility of the opposition and the possibility of radicalization of Iranian society, the death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iran crisis, 1300 hours of internet disruption; Witkoff: a horrific massacre occurred during the protests in Iran.