High-level officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Justice Ministry and Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have held meetings with a U.S. delegation led by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Jonathan Cohen yesterday in Ankara.

According to diplomatic sources, the U.S. delegation led by Jonathan Cohen met with Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ahmet Muhtar Gün and his delegation to discuss cooperation between Turkey and the U.S. The sources indicated that senior-level officials from the Turkish Justice Ministry were also present at the meeting. Jonathan Cohen was in Ankara last October to find a solution to the visa spat between the U.S. and Turkey.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara first announced Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017 that it had suspended non-immigrant visa services at all diplomatic facilities in Turkey. The visa crisis between Turkey and the U.S. started after Turkish national Metin Topuz, confirmed by the U.S. Istanbul Consulate as a local employee, was remanded in custody over terror charges by an Istanbul court due to his links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which is behind last year's defeated coup attempt. In order to solve the crisis, the Turkish side offered to set up a joint working committee to resolve the issues. During the visit of the U.S. delegation, the joint working committee conducted its first meeting to discuss the legal cooperation between the two countries.Later on yesterday, the U.S. delegation met with another council at the Turkish General Staff about Operation Olive Branch currently underway against terrorist organizations Daesh and PKK-linked People's Protection Units (YPG) inside Syria. The U.S.'s cooperation with the YPG has been a thorny issue for Turkey. Ankara has repeatedly warned of the repercussions that will follow the use of one terrorist group to defeat another, while the U.S. has called the terrorist group a "reliable ally" in its fight against Daesh in Syria, even though its mother organization, the PKK, is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.