Algeria and Turkey have signed an accord to cooperate on counterterrorism efforts, says a report by Middle East Newsline (MENL).
Officials were quoted as saying the security accord was signed in Algiers on Wednesday. They said the accord also included efforts to fight organized crime and drug-trafficking.
The accord was signed by Algerian security chief Ali Tunis and his Turkish counterpart, Kemal Einal, according to MENL.
Both Algeria and Turkey have struggled with Islamic insurgents over the last decade.
The report comes amid intensifying Israeli-Turkish military cooperation.
Israeli chief of staff Shaul Mofaz met with high-level Turkish defense officials in Ankara on Friday in a further sign of the flourishing relations between the two regional allies, said AFP.
Turkey and Israel have been chief regional allies since 1996, when they hammered out a military cooperation accord at the expense of harsh criticism by most Arab countries and Iran.
Mofaz's talks followed a visit to Ankara by Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer earlier this month and preceded a visit by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, scheduled for August 8.
Speaking ahead of talks with Turkish Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, Mofaz expressed hope his visit would contribute to a further rapprochement between the two countries' armies and peoples.
Cakmakoglu said their talks would concentrate mainly on joint projects in the defense industry field, Anatolia news agency reported.
Mofaz also met with Turkish chief of general staff Huseyin Kivrikoglu earlier in the day.
But Mofaz had to cancel a meeting with the head of the Turkish navy as he hurried up to return several hours earlier to Israel, where tension between the Jewish state and the Palestinians is simmering, said the agency.
The top officer refused to comment on the nature of his talks, which are expected to have dealt with cooperation in military industry – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
