World Bulletin/News Desk

The second meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) will take place in Istanbul on June 7 and 8.      

Turkey and the United States are the co-chairs of the GCTF which was launched in September 2011.      

The GCTF is an informal, multilateral counterterrorism body that focuses on identifying critical civilian counterterrorism needs, mobilizing the necessary expertise and resources to address these issues and build global political will.      

The 30 founding members of the GCTF are: Algeria, Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.      

The GCTF consists of a strategic-level Coordinating Committee, co-chaired initially by Turkey and the United States; five thematic and regional expert-driven working groups; and a small administrative unit that the U.S. will host for the first few years.      

The ministers' session of the Coordinating Committee in Istanbul will take place on June 7 while technical meetings of the Committee would be held on the afternoon of June 7 and on June 8.      

Representatives from the United Nations will also be in attendance at the Istanbul meetings of the Committee.