Zebari says Baghdad and Arbil to cooperate against ISIL

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari reacts to the heat before a group photo during an EU-Arab league Foreign Ministers summit in Athens, June 11. AP Photo

The federal government and the autonomous Kurdish region will cooperate against the offensive of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu during a phone call June 12.

Davutoğlu called Zebari on his return to Ankara in the morning of June 12 after cutting a trip to the United States short regarding the latest developments in Iraq. ISIL has taken control of several cities during an offensive in the central and northern parts of Iraq, including Mosul and Tikrit.

Zebari assured Davutoğlu that the Iraqi army is set to cooperate with the Kurdish peshmerga troops, despite tensions last year over the presence of the Iraqi military in Kirkuk.

ISIL took 49 members of Turkey’s Mosul consulate hostage after seizing the city late June 9.