Chuck Hagel

Turkey and the United States have launched talks to discuss potential ways of cooperating against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) following a proposal by Washington to form an anti-terror coalition against the rapidly expanding jihadists.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has begun talks with Turkish officials over the common threat posed by extremist jihadists in Iraq and Syria as Washington suggested the formation of a coalition to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The US are putting together a coalition to counter Islamic State militants in Iraq but no ground troops will be committed, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and his counterpart İsmet Yılmaz will discuss the issue of foreign fighters joining Islamic militant groups in the Middle East in his visit to Turkey next week, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has voiced its concern that military equipment sent to Iraq’s Peshmerga forces by a coalition of Western nations may end up in the hands of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

A source in Albania's Ministry of Defence, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told BIRN that weapons transfer had begun following a government decision earlier this month.

At least one C-17 US Air Force transport plane, commonly used for the transfer of weapons and ammunition, was seen leaving Tirana’s Mother Teresa Airport on Sunday.

Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos emphasized, after talks with his American counterpart Chuck Hagel late on Thursday, the "truly excellent level of the Hellenic-American defence cooperation" and said the two men agreed that "today, more than ever, the defence cooperation between the USA and Greece has a geostrategic and essential significance."

The sophistication, wealth and military might of Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL) militants represent a major threat to the United States that may surpass that once posed by al-Qaeda, U.S. military leaders said on Aug. 21.
 

Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos arrived in Washington early on Thursday for an official visit following an invitation by his US counterpart Chuck Hagel.

Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos (photo) is due to fly to the United States on Wednesday for a meeting Thursday with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon.

Avramopoulos met on Tuesday in Athens with US Ambassador David Pearce to discuss the agenda for his upcoming talks with Hagel.