Turkey, EU hold counter-terrorism meeting

ANKARA

Turkey and the European Union held a counter-terrorism meeting on Nov. 28 in Ankara, seeking further cooperation to prevent and counter violent extremism, terrorism financing and links between organized crime and terrorism and to reinforce cooperation in the field of justice and law enforcement cooperation.

Ankara hosted EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove for the meeting, with Turkey’s focus on measures against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) and the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

The ongoing cooperation to prevent the illegal crossing of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants and spare information was another topic of discussions. Ankara considers PKK activities in Europe a high priority issue on Turkey’s counterterrorism agenda and seeks to ban activities and PKK symbols across Europe.

The EU official also met with National Intelligence Agency (MİT) chief Hakan Fidan and presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın.