Turkey to co-chair anti-terror initiative
Turkey and the United States will launch a new initiative aimed at intensifying the joint struggle against terrorism and its roots in “Arab Spring countries,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Friday. The forum will include nearly 30 countries, and its first meeting is scheduled for New York on Sept. 22 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting, according to Turkish diplomatic sources. The new initiative, to be called the Global Counterterrorism Forum, or GCTF, will bring together “traditional allies, emerging powers and Muslim-majority countries,” Clinton said in a speech in New York. The U.S. proposed the creation of the Global Counterterrorism Forum “to address the evolving terrorist threat in a way that would bring enduring benefits by helping frontline countries and affected regions acquire the means to deal with threats they face,” a fact sheet of the U.S. State Department said in regard to the initiative.” It is based on recognition that the U.S. alone cannot eliminate every terrorist or terrorist organization,” it added.The GCTF would prioritize civilian capacity building in areas such as the rule of law, border management and countering violent extremism, the State Department said.