WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has told Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan he hoped to strengthen ties with their country and expressed support for Turkey's growing relationship with Iraq, the White House said on Monday.

Obama spoke to the two men by phone earlier in the day.
Obama's call to Gul came just a few days after the Turkish president visited Moscow, seeking a closer relationship with the Kremlin, despite Turkey's history as a rival of Russia.
“In both calls, the leaders discussed a number of current issues, including U.S. support for the growing Turkish-Iraqi relationship, the importance of cooperation in Middle East peace efforts, and the U.S. review on Afghanistan and Pakistan policy,” the White House said in a statement.
Turkey has repeatedly attacked hideouts of Kurdish separatists in the northern mountainous region of Iraq.
The White House said Obama emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Turkey alliance and expressed his desire to work on a “broad agenda” of mutual strategic interest.
”The President emphasized his desire to strengthen U.S.-Turkish relations and to work together effectively in NATO,” the statement said.
Some analysts have seen Turkey, due to its key geographical position, as a key for redressing the influence of a resurgent Russia and a possible route out of Central Asia and the Caspian region for oil pipelines.
In January, President Gul urged Obama to make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a priority, saying an active U.S. engagement was needed to reach a settlement.
Turkey was also a key point of contact for the former Bush administration on Afghanistan, and helped U.S. efforts to convince Pakistan to crack down on northwest tribal regions which are a stronghold for Afghan extremists.
Obama is currently conducting a review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the White House said Monday he would ""shortly"" make a decision on whether to send thousands more U.S. troops into the Afghan war.