Turkey and France to jontly fight terrorism

Turkey and France will establish mechanisms to jointly fight against terror, organized crime, and human and drug smuggling as part of a rare substantive bilateral agreement to be inked today, which will be a first of its kind for Turkey. "The agreement has both technical and operational dimensions," French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, who came to Turkey for official talks, told reporters in Ankara yesterday. "We will identify threats common to both countries. And we will move against them together. That would surely require joint operations as well." Gueant met with EU Minister Egemen Bagis and Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay and will hold talks with Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin today where an agreement will be signed. Gueant will also be received by President Abdullah Gul on Friday. The agreement with France will focus on deepening cooperation on the fight against terrorism, organized crime, drug and human smuggling and illegal immigration between the two countries. It will be as substantive as possible and will also include establishment of mechanisms, officials said.