On Wednesday, the U.S. denied allegations that Brett McGurk, the U.S. special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter DAESH, visited on Tuesday an area in northern Syria controlled by the PKK's Syrian affiliate, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
During his daily briefing, State Department spokesman John Kirby, when asked whether such a visit was paid, said the relevant reports are completely wrong. In response to a question, Kirby said he is not aware of any U.S. official visits to Kobani and northern Syria.
The alleged visit was reported by Kurdistan24 on Wednesday, citing a PYD official.
Idris Nassan, an official in the Foreign Affairs Directorate of Kobani, one of three autonomous cantons established by the PYD two years ago, said McGurk met with PYD Co-Chair Salih Muslim, along with senior commanders of the PYD's People's Protection Units (YPG) and the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
McGurk previously visited Kobani in January and photos of his visit surfaced on social media. He was seen meeting with former PKK fighters in Syria. Polat Can, the spokesman and one of the founders of the YPG, shared a photo on his Twitter account showing him presenting a plaque to McGurk.
Ankara has frequently voiced its concern over YPG activity along the Turkish border and has been rigid in its stance to not allow the PYD to found any de facto Kurdish in northern Syria. It reiterates that the PYD enjoys close connections with the PKK, including militant and ammunition transfer through tunnels.
With the PKK conducting an armed campaign in Turkey's southeast and its affiliation with the PYD and YPG, Ankara reiterates that its national security is under threat and U.S. arms aid to the PYD should be terminated. Rather than deliver arms only, the YPG-dominating SDF was also apparently trained by Western special forces teams, including those from the U.S., rankling Ankara due to security forces' clashes with the PKK.
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