Iraq has called on Turkey to step up border patrols and stop the flow of terrorists as the government in Baghdad is locked in fierce battle with the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

“They (Turkish authorities) say that the border is too broad and they cannot control it. I believe that they can control it. It is in the interest of our partners to stop the flow of terrorists to Iraq,” Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said at the 51st Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday.

Turkey has come under international criticism for allowing thousands of foreign terrorists to join Takfiri groups such as ISIL, which has captured some parts of Iraq and Syria.

Interpol has warned that foreign terrorists are increasingly going to Turkey through booking tickets on cruise ships to join Takfiri groups in Syria and Iraq.

The Iraqi prime minister also stated that the Iraqi nation is on the frontline of the fight against ISIL, highlighting that the anti-ISIL campaign cannot bear fruit unless parties close ranks and confront the Takfiri militants, who jeopardize the entire world.

He further noted that ISIL massacres people irrespective of their faith, desecrates and demolishes places of worship, and knows no boundary for their vicious acts, among them the burning death of captive Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh, and the execution of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.

Abadi went on to say that the ISIL terrorists have suffered resounding setbacks over the past few weeks, as Iraqi army forces have managed to liberate the entire eastern province of Diyala, and restored security to several areas near the hotbed city of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (248 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad.

He stated that Iraqi forces have made ​​significant gains in the troubled western province of Anbar, where they are arming and training four thousand tribesmen to battle ISIL.

MP/HSN/HMV