Top diplomat visits US with Gülen issue on agenda
As bilateral relations between Turkey and the U.S. enter a new era with a new administration under American President Donald Trump, undersecretary in the Turkish Foreign Ministry Ümit Yalçın arrived in the U.S. capital of Washington to conduct closed-door meetings with officials with a special focus on the extradition of U.S.-based terror leader Fetullah Gülen, in ongoing talks that began on Monday. The Turkish official's visit was announced last week by presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın during a televised interview where he discussed Turkey's strategy to fight Daesh in Raqqa in Syria, where he stated that Turkey has "a concrete plan" for Raqqa against Daesh as well as plans for the Foreign Ministry's undersecretary to visit the U.S. to address the matter.
As part of the revitalization of Turkish-American relations, which hit rock bottom under the former Obama administration, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Trump held their first substantial discussion, a 45-minute phone conversation, last week. During this both leaders expressed their "commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms." Shortly after the phone conversation between the two leaders, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo made his first overseas visit since he took office, reportedly consulting on issues including the PKK's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) with Turkish officials last Thursday. While Ankara expects Washington to extradite U.S.-based terrorist leader Gülen and halt cooperation with the PYD and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), Undersecretary Yalçın's visit is also expected to include the matter of establishing a safe zone in Syria.
Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization. Despite Turkey's strong warnings against supporting any PKK-affiliated groups in both Iraq and Syria because of the idea that the former pose a threat to Turkish border security, the EU and the U.S. do not categorize the PYD-YPG as such.
As part of the revitalization of Turkish-American relations, which hit rock bottom under the former Obama administration, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Trump held their first substantial discussion, a 45-minute phone conversation, last week. During this both leaders expressed their "commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms." Shortly after the phone conversation between the two leaders, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo made his first overseas visit since he took office, reportedly consulting on issues including the PKK's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) with Turkish officials last Thursday. While Ankara expects Washington to extradite U.S.-based terrorist leader Gülen and halt cooperation with the PYD and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), Undersecretary Yalçın's visit is also expected to include the matter of establishing a safe zone in Syria.
Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization. Despite Turkey's strong warnings against supporting any PKK-affiliated groups in both Iraq and Syria because of the idea that the former pose a threat to Turkish border security, the EU and the U.S. do not categorize the PYD-YPG as such.
Last Update: February 15, 2017 22:58