Iranian Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami made the remarks in a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of Turkish Armed Forces, Hulusi Akar, on Tuesday in Tehran, adding “cooperation between Iran, Turkey and Iraq can help with the establishment of stability and security in the region and counter any measures to partition regional countries.”
Hatami welcomed Turkey’s involvement in settling the Syrian crisis, highlighting the need for preserving Syria’s territorial integrity and reaching a political solution to the crisis based on Syrian-Syrian talks and the public’s votes.
The minister voiced the support of President Rouhani’s administration for expanding military and security cooperation between the two countries’ armed forces in combating terrorism in the region, expressing hope that the cooperation would improve stability and security of the both nations and the region.
“We believe that future defense cooperation between Iran and Turkey will lead to establishment of sustainable security and stability in the region and the world,” Hatami stressed.
The Turkish army chief, for his part, stressed his country’s strong support to unity and territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq, saying that Turkey does not recognize any changes in geographical borders.
Noting the common stances of Iran, Iraq and Turkey toward the Kurdistan region’s call for independence, Akar warned that if the current situation were to continue, Turkey would impose severe economic, political and military sanctions on KRG.
The Turkish army chief further voiced his country’s readiness to cooperate with Iran in border security, as well as combating human, arms, and drug trafficking.
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