Türkiye 'extremely active' in anti-Daesh/ISIS coalition: US envoy

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The Turkish government is "extremely active" in the anti-Daesh/ISIS coalition led by the US, a senior State Department official said Tuesday as the coalition wrapped its once-a-year political director-level meeting.

Ian McCary, US President Joe Biden's deputy special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, said Ankara is "a very important member of the Global Coalition" and is "extremely active" within the group. That includes co-charing the foreign terrorist fighter working group and hosting the body in Istanbul in October.

"There's a great deal of overlap and common ground with our Turkish partners, and there are some areas of disagreement as well, but we're determined to continue to develop our counterterrorism cooperation with the Turkish government," he told reporters during a virtual news conference.

Asked by an Anadolu to outline areas where Washington is seeking to build upon its counterterrorism cooperation with Ankara, McCary pointed to Türkiye's chairing the coalition's foreign terrorist fighter working group, and its efforts to "disrupt and intercept terrorist movements, including potential movements of Daesh affiliates into or out of Afghanistan."

"We have, you know, a dialogue with Türkiye about other theatres in which we're confronting Daesh, including in Africa. Turkey also has also has a great deal of interest in what's happening there in Sub-Saharan Africa," he said.

The Global Coalition To Defeat ISIS includes 86 member states and institutions. It was formed by the US in 2014 and was instrumental in the elimination of the terror group's territorial hold of wide swathes of Iraq and Syria.