Turkish, Iranian chiefs of staff meet in Tehran to discuss security issues

Turkish military chief of staff Major General Hulusi Akar met with his Iranian counterpart Major General Mohammad Bagheri on Monday, a week after the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)’s controversial independence referendum.

The talks came days after Baghdad announced it planned to take control of its land border gates in a coordinated effort with Ankara and Tehran.

In the meeting that was also attended by deputy chief of the Iranian armed forces Brigadier Qadeer Nizami, Turkish ambassador to Iran Riza Hakan Tekin and military attache Omer Ozgul, the chiefs discussed border security, counterterrorism and possible measures against the KRG after the referendum.

Akar is also to meet Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, and defence minister Amir Hatami.

"The most important issues for [Turkey and Iran] are the Syria and Iraq crises ... Especially after the latest referendum [in the territories controlled by the KRG], the two countries needed more dialogue and more cooperation, especially in the military area," Vice Director of the Center for Iranian Studies in Ankara (IRAM), Hakki Uygur told TRT World.

"[Military cooperation between Ankara and Tehran] is possible... But it is not easy to talk about ... We are [also] seeing some signals from KRG, they changed their language, and they are more open to negotiations. If Mr Barzani changes his mind and [pulls back] a little, there will no need for military cooperation between the three countries."             

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to visit Iran on October 4, after which the action the countries could take will be more clear, according to Uygur.

A couple of days before the referendum, the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Iraq met in New York and released a joint declaration on KRG’s referendum, stating that they will consider taking countermeasures in coordination. 

The three ministers underlined their countries’ strong commitment to maintaining Iraq’s territorial and political unity, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Turkey extends mandate for military action in Syria and Iraq

On September 22, Turkey’s National Security Council (NSC) convened in a meeting at the presidential palace to discuss the security implications of the referendum. 

"It is strongly emphasised that this attempt [Kurdish referendum] is a grave mistake which directly threatens the security of Turkey and the peace, security and stability of the region as well as Iraq's territorial unity and territorial integrity,” the NSC said in a statement released at the end of the meeting.

A day later, the AK Party, CHP, and MHP in the Turkish parliament approved extending the mandate for military action in Iraq and Syria by a year. 

Coordinated effort to take border gates

The move to gain control of the border posts has come in response to a non-binding referendum held by the KRG last week that produced a vote in favour of areas under its control seceding from Iraq.

Following the vote, Iraq, Iran and Turkey demanded that the KRG relinquish its control over external border crossings with Turkey, Iran and Syria, but the KRG refused, Erbil-based TV Rudaw said on Friday, citing a Kurdish official.

Turkish armed forces will coordinate with Iraq over control the Habur border gate in the Silopi district of Turkey’s Sirnak province, which borders both Syria and Iraq.

Earlier on Friday, a ban imposed by Iraq’s central government on international flights to the KRG-controlled areas went into effect after it rejected a demand to hand over control of its international airports in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

Joint-military drills

Turkey has deployed new troops to its Iraqi border and has been conducting drills along its border with KRG-controlled territories since September 18, a week before the referendum.  

An Iraqi force is also deployed on the Turkish side of the border and then Iraq and Turkey started to conduct drills jointly after the referendum in Northern Iraq.

Reuters reported that according to an official from the KRG, Iran deployed tanks and artillery at its border with Northern Iraq on Monday. 

This comes after Iran and Iraq announced joint military drills along their borders on Saturday.  

“A joint military exercise between Iran's armed forces and units from the Iraqi army will be held in the coming days along the shared border,” Iranian army spokesperson Masoud Jazayeri told reporters Saturday, following a meeting of Iranian commanders.

"In the meeting, the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq and the illegitimacy of the independence referendum in northern Iraq were stressed again and necessary decisions were taken to provide security at the borders and welcome Iraq's central government forces to take position at border crossings" he continued.

The Iraqi Defence Ministry said the implementation of central government decisions to take over management of all the border posts and airports was “going as planned in coordination with the relevant authorities and neighboring countries, and there is no delay in the procedures.”

Iraqi state television said an Iraqi military delegation had visited the KRG-controlled border from the Iranian side.