Turkey-US working group to meet in Washington

ANKARA

Turkey-US joint working group meetings are scheduled to be held in Washington on Tuesday, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday.

In a written statement, the ministry said Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal from Turkey and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale from the U.S. will co-chair the meetings.

The ministry has not provided further detail on the meetings.

Turkey and the U.S. established a mechanism to address separate issues in working groups, including the stabilization of Manbij, a northern Syrian city, and to prevent undesirable clashes, following a visit by former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Ankara in February, 2018.

The first working group had been held on March 8, 2018 in which the main principles of potential cooperation of Turkey and the U.S. were termed "constructive".

The Fetullah Terror Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Turkey, visa issues and fight against the PKK terror organization were also discussed in working groups.

Reporting by Nazli Yuzbasioglu, writing by Nilay Kar