The United States wants to see PKK terrorists leave Iraq's Sinjar, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said late Tuesday, calling the group's presence a threat in the region.
The globally-recognized terrorist group had announced its withdrawal from the northwestern province on Friday, as Turkey expressed its determination to expand the scope of Operation Olive Branch in Syria's northwestern Afrin to northern Iraq.
The Fırat News Agency, a media group known for its links to the terrorist organization, reported that the PKK is withdrawing its militants since it "reached its goal" of diminishing Daesh from the city.
In mid-2014, the PKK managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar on the pretext that it was protecting the local Yazidi community from Daesh.
Mattis' remarks came amid increasing tensions between Turkey and United States over the latter's support to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), and the former's Operation Olive Branch that drove the terrorists away from Afrin.
Mattis also said that he is optimistic about the U.S.' relations with Turkey "despite serious disagreements on Syria."
The disagreements haven't affected dialogue between the two countries, he added.
"We have always been together during the most difficult times."
However, the secretary also criticized Turkey's anti-terror operation, saying that it "diminished the efforts to defeat Daesh."
Regarding both countries' relations, Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, the principal deputy assistant secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, is expected to pay a visit to Turkey and Iraq starting from today till April 3.
Ambassador Kaidanow is expected to hold meetings in Ankara with several senior Turkish officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Defense and the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, to have a discussion on bilateral and regional security issues.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump emphasized the need to boost cooperation with Turkey regarding "shared strategic challenges in Syria" during a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.
"President Trump stressed the need to intensify cooperation with Turkey with respect to shared strategic challenges in Syria," the White House said in its readout of the call.
The call came four days after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed his country's operation in Afrin over the phone with Macron.
Erdoğan expressed his discomfort about baseless statements on the counter-terror operation during the conversation, according to a Turkish presidential source.
In February, Macron said the 30-day U.N. cease-fire adopted in Syria also applied to Turkey's Afrin operation. The French leader had also warned Turkey against using the operation as an "excuse to invade Syria".
Turkey on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, northwestern Syria, to clear it from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists.