Turkish-Syrian strategic council to meet next week

The second prime ministerial-level meeting of an intergovernmental strategic council between Turkey and Syria will be held in Ankara next week, diplomatic sources said yesterday. Following the first prime ministerial-level meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council one year ago in Istanbul, the second will reportedly be held in Ankara on Dec. 21, co-chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart Muhammad Naji al-Otari. Syrian President Bashar Assad isn't expected to attend the meeting, the sources said, but is likely to be in Istanbul for a Dec. 23 summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). Syria is not a member of the ECO. In a previous ministerial-level meeting of the council, the two sides agreed to expand an existing framework security cooperation arrangement.