Erdoğan calls al-Baghdadi's death 'turning point' in fight against Daesh

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday hailed the killing of Daesh terror group ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, calling it a "turning point" in the fight against terrorism.

"The killing of Daesh's ringleader marks a turning point in our joint fight against terrorism," Erdoğan said on Twitter, using another name for IS.

US President Donald Trump announced Baghdadi's death during a nighttime raid by US special forces deep outside the village of Barisha in Idlib province, northwestern Syria.

Erdoğan said Turkey would "continue to support anti-terror efforts -- as it has done in the past".

"I am confident that a decisive struggle against terrorism, in line with the spirit of alliance, will bring peace to all of humanity," he added in a second tweet.

The Turkish defence ministry said there was "information exchange and coordination between the military authorities of both countries" before the US operation, but gave no further details.

A senior Turkish official also told AFP that there had been "close coordination" and Turkey's military had "advance knowledge" of the raid.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the man who led the Daesh terror organization as it swept up large swaths of Iraq and Syria, was killed in a U.S. night-time raid in northwestern Syria, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday.

Trump thanked Turkey, Russia, Syria and Iraq for their cooperation in the raid, further saying Ankara was "terrific", and noting U.S. forces "flew over" some Turkish territory during the mission.

Under Baghdadi, Daesh spread over wide segments of Iraq and Syria beginning in 2013, eventually claiming the formation of a "caliphate" in the region as it plotted and carried out gruesome attacks that reached far beyond its main territorial bastion. It further set up local affiliates in other regions as it released heinous execution videos on to the internet.

Baghdadi had been a top target for both the Trump and Obama administrations, and had a $25 million bounty placed on his head.

As the U.S.-led coalition took back territories once under the terror group's hold, Baghdadi increasingly stayed in the shadows, only rarely releasing pre-recorded audio messages to his followers.