MESOP : TURKEY & GERMANY JOINTLY AGAINST ISIS & PKK – Turkey, Germany Implement New Joint Counter-terrorism Mechanism

NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY) – Rudaw – 2016-01-28 – Germany and Turkey have put a new mechanism in place which will enable them to more effectively combat mutual terrorist threats. They are doing this through appointing liaisons which will, they hope, improve cooperative efforts against the terrorist threats they face.

The German ambassador to Turkey, Martin Erdmann, told Hurriyet Daily News that the decision to appoint liaisons was made after a meeting between Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Turkey’s own interior minister Efkan Ala in Berlin last January 22. Germany and Turkey initially sought such coordination after the Istanbul suicide-bomb attack on January 12 left 10 German tourists dead.Erdmann lauded these new efforts as a “new chapter” adding that, “In the coming months, insight will be given to this program and cooperation will be intensified.” “Surely the fight against terrorism is one of the most important items on the agenda. Be it the fight against ISIS, be it the fight against the PKK, there are items at the top of the agenda. Intelligence sharing between institutions, information sharing concerning terror cells, etc.”His lumping together of ISIS and the PKK was notable given the fact that Turkey has been criticized widely for seemingly perceiving the PKK to be a far greater threat than ISIS. www.mesop.de