NATO welcomes US-Turkey's 'closer cooperation' in Syria

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that he welcomed Turkey's close cooperation in the fight against DAESH as part of the anti-DAESH coalition against the terror group.

"I welcome closer cooperation between the different countries in the coalition fighting ISIL [DAESH] and especially between the U.S. and Turkey because they are key in the fight against ISIL to NATO allies," he said speaking at the National Parliamentary Library Tbilisi in Georgia.

Stoltenberg added, "And I think it is of great importance that they work closer together in the fighting against ISIL, also of course in Syria."

He underlined that NATO would continue to fight against all terrorist organizations and any threat against its allied countries, saying that NATO had increased its presence in Turkey to improve its capability to protect itself against different kinds of attacks.

Stoltenberg acknowledged the ongoing turmoil in Syria had affected Turkey: "Turkey, a NATO ally, is perhaps most affected by the turmoil, the violence and presence of ISIL in Iraq and Syria," two countries which lie on Turkey's borders, he added.