Turkey offers to host follow-up meeting of Iraqi neighbors in Istanbul

Turkey offered Thursday to host a follow-up meeting of Iraqi neighbors in Istanbul, saying that Ankara's idea of organizing such a meeting has been accepted by the related parties.

Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Levent Bilman made the offer at a weekly press briefing.

The prospective meeting will be attended by executives of neighboring countries to Iraq, representatives of five permanent members of the UN Security Council and G-8 countries, Bilman told the reporters.

According to the spokesman, the first meeting of Iraqi neighbors will take place in Baghdad this weekend, which will be followed by a meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo.

The Istanbul meeting would be the third meeting of its kind to be held within this framework, Bilman said, adding that the exact date of the Istanbul meeting have not been set yet.

Source: Xinhua