TEHRAN – Turkish President Receb Tayyib Erdogan has said that Iran and Turkey should put special emphasis on the battle with terrorism, extremism and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant(ISIL).

“Daesh [ISIL] is a part of Al-Qaeda and the continuation of the group’s terrorist activities poses a great danger to the entire world of Islam and cooperation between Iran and Turkey in fighting such groups is of great importance,” Erdogan said in a phone conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday.

Rouhani, for his part, said more cooperation is needed between Iran and Turkey to counter the threat of terrorist groups in the Middle East region.

“The condition of insecurity will with no doubt leave its negative effect on neighboring countries,” he said.

These developments and the situation of the region necessitate the expansion of consultations between Tehran and Ankara, he added.

The phone call comes amid Turkey’s ongoing military attacks against what it calls ISIL positions in Syria as well as the bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

NA/OSN