Iran and Middle East Studies / İran ve Orta Doğu Çalışmaları

Iranian Military Chief Bagheri's Visit to Turkey  Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri,Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces of Iran paid a  three-day visit to Ankara on August 15, in response to invitation of his Turkish counterpart,  General Hulusi Akar. Bagheri was accompanied by a crowded delegation of high-level military officials  including Mohammad Pakpur, Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces. In addition to his counterpart  Akar, Bagheri held meetings with Chief of MIT (National Intelligence Agency) Hakan Fidan,  Defense   Minister Nurettin Canikli and President Recep T. Erdogan. At his arrival to Ankara, Bagheri spoke to Iranian state television and described Turkey as an  important neighbor with a vital position in the region and the Islamic world. He underlined thatthis visit to Turkey was necessary due to regional developments and security issues.  Indeed, bilateral security relations, border secu...

Effects of the Coup Attempt on Turkey-Iran Relations 2016-08-05 Turkish officials, notably President Recep T. Erdoğan showed strong reactions to the ambivalent statements of Turkey’s Western allies about the coup attempt of July 15. Against the ambivalent attitude of the West, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu stated, “one of the biggest support during the coup attempt has come from Russia.” Iran was also one of the states thatclosely followed the developments in Turkey on that night and clearly supported the Turkish government. Iranian Government Supports Turkey Iran was on red alert at the earlier hours of the coup attempt. The transactions were halted at the customs gates, the borders were closed and the flights between the two countries were suspended. Military units were deployed in the border regions in order to ensure security.A crisis desk was set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran in order to monitor the coup attempt. In his first message o...