Iraq, Turkey call for cooperation to solve Syrian crisis

The Iraqi Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi and his Turkish counterpart on Tuesday called for regional cooperation to end the Syrian crisis which affects the Middle East region. "There is the challenge of the Syrian crisis which affects all of us, and we believe that by cooperation there will be a realistic solutions, and useful for the Syrian people and for the whole Middle East," Nujaifi said at a joint press conference with the Turkish Speaker Cemil Cicek, after their meeting in Nijaifi's office to discuss the bilateral relations and the developments in the region. Nujaifi said that both Turkey and Iraq expressed their relief about the latest nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group, considering it a major step for stability in the Middle East region. "We have agreed to welcome the deal between Iran and the world powers and we believe that such deal will contribute in stability of the region," Nujaifi told reporters For his part, Cemil Cicek stressed that "many innocent people are being killed every day in Syria. This not only affects Syria, but also affects Turkey and Iraq." Cicek also condemned the terrorism, which negatively affects the region, saying "we in Turkey curse all kinds of terrorism. Wherever it comes from, whoever do it and whatever its reason is. We are against terrorist acts." Earlier in the day, Cicek arrived in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on an official visit and was received by his Iraqi counterpart at Baghdad airport. The Turkish speaker's visit came more than two weeks after the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to Baghdad, as the two countries are trying to boost bilateral relations amid growing tensions in the Middle East.