LOC09:23
06:23 GMT
WASHINGTON, June 14 (KUNA) -- The United States and its regional ally, Turkey, are in consensus that Iraqis should unite "urgently" in face of threats posed by Islamic militants who have recently expanded their presence north and west of the Iraqi capital.
This came during a telephone contact, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden conducted with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which they discussed the crisis in Iraq, it was announced late on Friday.
The Office of the Vice President said in a statement that Biden and Erdogan discussed "the danger to regional and international security posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL)."
They agreed "on the urgent need to unite Iraqis and their leaders against this common threat and discussed the political and security challenges."
"The Vice President reiterated U.S. support for Turkey's efforts to bring about the safe return of its citizens," the statement concluded.
ISIL armed militants abducted the Turkish general consul and his staff in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, shortly after they seized the city, earlier this week, driving Iraqi Government forces out of it. Another group of 31 Turks, truck drivers who were delivering fuel to a power plant in Mosul, was seized by the gunmen.
Turkey, a NATO ally of the United States, backs the opposition in the Syrian civil war, but it is no friend to ISIL, which has now taken control of large areas in both eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq that border Turkey.
The ISIL is known as the ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq in Syria. It is also dubbed "Daesh," an abbreviation of the group's name in Arabic. (end)
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