An Uzbek delegation led by a senior adviser to the Uzbek prime minister visited the YPG terrorists in northern Syria, Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported Friday.
According to the report, the delegation, led by Mehriddin Khairiddinov, visited Abdulkarim Omar, the co-chair of the YPG’s so-called foreign office. The YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist group.
No details have been provided about what was discussed in the meeting, the report said.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has not made a statement about the provocative meeting.
Last month, the Turkish and Uzbek defense ministers signed a military agreement and underlined their will to further cooperate in the fields of military, defense and security.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stated that though slowdowns are witnessed from time to time, Turkey put a strong emphasis on bilateral relations. He further stressed that both countries enjoyed a strategic partnership based on strong brotherly ties.
“We make efforts to enhance relations in every field. This includes trade, economic, social, political and, of course, military relations. We have made significant progress,” Akar stated.
Uzbek Defense Minister Bakhodir Kurbanov said following the meeting with Akar, “It is important for us to further military, defense and security cooperation.”
Support of the YPG by France, the United States and several other Western countries has become one of the stumbling blocks in bilateral ties between Turkey and other NATO allies.
Turkey strongly opposes the YPG's presence in northern Syria. The U.S., meanwhile, has provided military training and thousands of truckloads of weaponry to the YPG, despite designating the PKK as a terrorist organization and despite its NATO ally's security concerns. Turkey considers the YPG and PKK to be the same groups with different names.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union, has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than four decades and has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children.
