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Obama, Erdogan to secure Turkey’s Syrian border from foreign fighters

Türkiye Materials 23 July 2015 05:50 (UTC +04:00)

US President Barak Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed over the telephone on Wednesday ways to secure Turkey's Syrian border and to cooperate on other regional security issues, including stopping foreign fighters from coming into Turkey, the White House announced in a statement.

The conversation comes just one day after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the Turkish city of Suruc near the Syrian border, killing 32 people and injuring more than 100.

"The leaders also discussed efforts to increase cooperation to stem the flow of foreign fighters and secure Turkey's border with Syria. The President [Obama] reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to Turkey's national security," the statement read on Wednesday.

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Obama and Erdogan agreed to deepen the two countries' ongoing cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State, as well as the "common efforts to bring security and stability to Iraq and a political settlement to the conflict in Syria."

Moreover, the two presidents pledged to work closely on other regional issues of concern to the United States and Turkey.

On Wednesday, two Turkish police officers were found dead in their homes in the town of Ceylanpinar near the Syrian border.

The Islamic State terrorist group was reportedly behind the Suruc attack, while the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for the Ceylanpinar killings.

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