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Iranian military chief visits Turkey

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Turkish and Iranian military leaders discussed cooperation in Syria during a historic visit to Ankara by the Iranian Chief of Staff.

This is the first visit by an Iranian Chief of Staff to Turkey since 1979. General Mohammad Baqeri told Iranian state television: “There have been no such visits between the two countries for a long time, but considering regional developments and security issues – border security and the fight against terrorism – there was a need for such a visit.”

Baqeri met his Turkish counterpart on Tuesday together with Turkey’s Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli. He met President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday

According to an Iranian source, Baqeri was accompanied on his visit by the head of the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards Corps. The source added that the two sides discussed the war in Syria, the conflict in Iraq and Kurdish forces in the Turkish-Iranian border region.

Turkey and Iran have supported different sides in the Syrian civil war, with Iran backing the regime of Bashar al-Assad and Turkey supporting rebel groups in the north of the country.

In May, Turkey, Iran and Russia agreed to establish “de-escalation zones” in Syria to try to reduce the amount of fighting in some areas of the country, including the highly contested Idlib province in northern Syria which borders Turkey.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish broadcaster TRT Haber yesterday that “negotiations regarding the Idlib issue are still ongoing,” adding that “after the Iranian chief of staff, the Russian chief of staff will also come to Turkey”.

Turkey is also concerned about US support for Kurdish fighters in Syria. The US led coalition has sent arms to the Kurdish “Peoples’ Protection Units” (YPG), which plays a major role in the Arab-majority “Syrian Democratic Force” in the battle against ISIS. Turkey believes the YPG have close ties with the Kurdish PKK which have been fighting a long running insurgency in the southeast of Turkey.

Both Turkey and Iran are opposed to the Iraqi Kurds’ referendum on independence to be held on 25 September.

Baqeri’s is taking place ahead of a sixth round of talks about Syria between Turkey, Iran and Russia in the Kazakh capital, Astana, later this month.