Obama, Erdoğan agree to step up campaign against ISIL

ANKARA. KAZINFORM - US President Barack Obama has called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to express Washington's solidarity with Turkey in its "fight against terrorism" and discussed a range of areas the two allies could deepen cooperation.

Turkish Presidency said on Thursday that Obama and Erdoğan agreed to step up their campaign in fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), a day after Turkey reportedly hit a mobile ISIL target in what White House said "first successful" Turkish strike in Syria. "President Erdoğan and US President Obama discussed strengthening of cooperation in fight against Daesh and what could be done regarding Russia's military activities in Syria," the statement said late on Thursday. The statement said both leaders agreed on the necessity to immediately halt the attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and reiterated their support for a peaceful solution to a Cyprus problem, which has seen a revived acceleration in peace efforts. The statement said Erdoğan and Obama also discussed issues related to their upcoming participating in G-20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey. Source: Today's Zaman