Prime Minister Tony Abbott says a deal with Turkey will make it easier for intercepted Australian foreign fighters looking to join Islamic State to be returned to home, while also helping combat terrorism "wherever it occurs".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And he has hailed a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for helping deliver annual counter-terrorism talks between the two nations, the placement of Australian officials with Turkish police and for advancing discussions on the return of foreign fighters.
Speaking in Istanbul ahead of Anzac Day ceremonies and after meeting with Professor Davutoglu, Mr Abbott said the situation in Syria and Northern Iraq was horrific and that "we shouldn't underestimate the scale of the challenge that Turkey faces".
Turkey has faced criticism in the West for not doing enough to stop foreign fighters crossing its porous, near 1000-kilometre border with Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State.
But Mr Abbott said Turkey was making "big and improving efforts" to tackle the problem and that Turkish authorities were "conscious of the fact that the Islamic State was a threat to them as well".
"The distance that needs to be policed is essentially longer than the distance between Sydney and Melbourne, so there are huge challenges but I have got to say that the Turkish government is manfully rising to them," he said.
Mr Abbott said the discussions had ensured greater cooperation would develop and had delivered three outcomes.
"First of all, the placement of Australia liaison officers with the Turkish police and intelligence agencies, that's important, second, annual counter terrorism talks that will now take place between Australia and Turkey," he said.
"And third, we are working on a memorandum of understanding for the return of foreign fighters, so if the Turks apprehend foreign fighters of Australian origin we will have a set of protocols in place to deal with them."
The closer cooperation between Australian and Turkish authorities would help Australian authorities "identify them better, we will get more information about them and that will help us to ensure that they can't do any damage back in Australia".
He added that modern Turkey was "prosperous, it's pluralist, it's peaceful and it's a stark contrast to the kind of things we see happening in Syria and Iraq right now".
