Senior leaders from U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command to meet with Turkish General Staff

ANKARA, Turkey  –   Deputy commanders from U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) and U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) are meeting with Turkish General Staff leaders in Ankara early this week to discuss key topics related to the implementation of the northeast Syria security mechanism.

USCENTCOM’s U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas Bergeson and USEUCOM’s U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Twitty will meet with their Turkish counterparts this week to discuss future support for the combined joint operations center (CJOC) and other key activities that support security mechanism progress and management.

Coordination and consultation between the U.S. and Turkey are key to addressing Turkey’s legitimate security concerns in the region. The U.S. and Turkey are working together to rapidly implement the security mechanism and are on time or ahead of schedule in many areas. The first joint ground patrol since the establishment of the CJOC occurred Sunday in northeast Syria.

Continued success of the security mechanism will prevent ISIS from reemerging in northeast Syria and allows the Coalition and our SDF partners to remain focused on defeating ISIS.