Turkey and the U.S. will consult on how air and ground forces will cooperate to close the Syrian-Turkish border, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday.
Also, Kerry touched upon the U.S.'s recent plans to deploy American special forces to Iraq. He said, the Iraqi and U.S. governments will consult closely on where they will go and what they will do.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday said Washington would deploy a new force of special operations troops to Iraq to combat Daesh terrorists who have seized swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria. The group is also known as ISIL and ISIS.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said it welcomed foreign assistance but Iraq's government would need to approve any deployment of special operations forces anywhere in Iraq. He also said foreign ground combat troops were not needed in Iraq, although it was unclear whether Baghdad viewed these U.S. special operations forces in that role.
"The government of Iraq was of course briefed in advance of Secretary Carter's announcement," Kerry told reporters at NATO.
Another topic Kerry has touched upon during his talk was NATO's invitation to Montenegro to join the alliance. NATO is a defensive alliance and its decision to enlarge into the Balkans is not directed at Russia or any other nation, John Kerry said.
"NATO is not a threat to anyone ... it is a defensive alliance, it is simply meant to provide security," Kerry told the news conference. "It is not focused on Russia or anyone else."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, on the other hand, said on Wednesday that the continuing expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to the east would lead to retaliatory measures from Russia.
Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.
You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.