Turkey, US pledge joint struggle against terror

  13 September 2014    Read: 836
Turkey, US pledge joint struggle against terror
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks in Ankara on Sept. 12 to shape the strategy in the fight against jihadists in Iraq and Syria, as Turkey reiterated its readiness for “merely humanitarian assistance” in the region, instead of getting involved in combat operations.

In a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kerry, Ankara and Washington agreed to continue sharing intelligence, according to sources from the presidency. Cooperation between Turkey and U.S. against terrorist organizations will continue, they added, AzVision.az reports quoting Hürriyet Daily News.

Sources also said parties have decided to lend support to Syrian opposition. In the visit, which came after Turkey said it would not allow its air bases to be used for strikes on extremists, Kerry also held a series of meetings with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

Speaking to the press prior to a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Kerry said Ankara and Washington would continue talks on the issue of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and support for the Iraqi government. “We will also be chairing a counter-terrorism forum at the U.N. Security Council in a few days,” Kerry told reporters in Ankara.

“We are important partners, but not just in NATO. We have concerns with respect to what is happening in Libya, Mali, the horn of Africa, throughout the Middle East, and of course the events in Iraq. So we have a great deal to talk about,” he added.

In the meeting, Çavuşoğlu stressed that Turkey was “always ready to make humanitarian contributions in the region” regarding the issue, a Turkish diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News.

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