ANKARA (Reuters) – High-level delegations from Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Iraq will meet in Amman on Sunday to discuss security cooperation and regional developments, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Saturday.
Last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that the four countries would take steps toward jointly combating Islamic State in the region and they aimed to hold a first meeting on the issue in Jordan.
Foreign ministers will attend the meeting as well as defence ministers or military chiefs, and heads of intelligence organisations of the four countries, the Turkish diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
The officials will discuss cooperation in the areas of security, combating terrorism and organised crime, as well as regional developments, the source added.
Since the ousting of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, Western and regional countries have warned of a possible resurgence of Islamic State.
Thousands of members of the militant Islamist group are being held in prison camps in northeast Syria, guarded by the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Turkey regards the SDF and the YPG militia which spearheads the group as terrorists, and says the prisons must be handed over to Syria’s new leadership and the YPG should disarm.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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