Obama Talks to Erdogan over ISIL

Local Editor

US President Barack Obama spoke briefly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday about the war against the ISIL and the US-led coalition which the Turks have yet to join.

Officials said Obama called Erdogan from Air Force One as he returned from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where the Turkish leader met with Vice President Joe Biden.

The White House said that Obama and Erdogan discussed "our work together" to counter ISIL in Iraq and Syria and "steps we can take to advance our already strong cooperation."

Obama also praised Turkey for dealing with a massive influx of refugees from Syria, including tens of thousands this week alone.

Turkey had made clear on Wednesday that neither its air bases nor air space were used by US planes bombing ISIL in Syria.

On Tuesday, Erdogan welcomed US-led air strikes against the radicals in Syria and said Ankara could provide military or logistical support for the air campaign.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team