Turkey and the United States are holding diplomatic talks about de-escalating the situation in northwestern Syria's Afrin region, where Ankara is currently conducting Operation Olive Branch, Pentagon spokesperson Adrian Rankine-Galloway said Monday.
"There are diplomatic discussions ongoing right now to de-escalate the situation there, in Afrin," Rankine-Galloway told reporters in a press briefing.
Rankine-Galloway added that the U.S. was considering efforts and opportunities to decrease tension in Syria's Afrin.
The U.S.' cooperation with the PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) has been a thorny issue for Turkey. Ankara has repeatedly warned against the repercussions of using one terrorist group to defeat another, while the U.S. has been touting the "effective results" of its cooperation with the YPG in the fight against Daesh.
Turkey has also repeatedly urged the U.S. to stop its military support for the YPG. Some 2,000 planeloads and 5,000 truckloads of weapons and ammunition have been provided to the terrorist group so far by U.S. authorities.
The Turkish government considers the group's presence in the area an existential threat to national security. Since the beginning of the Afrin operation, the YPG has attacked civilians in Turkish provinces along the border dozens of time.
On Jan. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) launched Operation Olive Branch in Afrin targeting PKK-affiliated terrorists from the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing YPG as well as remaining Daesh elements.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.
The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's rights based on international law, U.N. Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the U.N. charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.
The Turkish military has stressed that only terrorist sites and positions are being targeted while the "utmost importance" has been attached to avoiding civilian casualties.
Afrin has been a stronghold for the YPG since mid-2012 when Assad regime forces withdrew from the area allowing the terrorist group to fill the vacuum.