NEWPORT, Wales, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The United States and Turkey are cooperating on the threat posed by foreign Islamist fighters returning to their home countries from Iraq and Syria, U.S. President Barack Obama said at a meeting with Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday.
Talking to reporters briefly before he and Erodgan held talks on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Wales, Obama thanked NATO ally Turkey for what he called its role as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East.
The United States and its allies are increasingly concerned that foreign fighters who have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State insurgency will attack civilian targets on returning home.
"I want to express my appreciation for the cooperation between U.S. and Turkish both military and intelligence services in dealing with the issue of foreign fighters," Obama said.
He called it an area "in which we have more work to do" and said they would also discuss humanitarian assistance to Syrians fleeing their country's three-year-old civil war.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Paul Taylor)
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