Turkey claims US views PKK, YPG as one

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - In the eyes of the US there was no difference between the terrorist-labeled Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), according to Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu who on Thursday met with his American counterpart, Rex Tillerson.

Cavusoglu's claim came during a joint press conference after the two sides' meeting in the Turkish capital of Ankara where Tillerson was on his first official visit after the January coming in of the new US administration of Donald Trump.

"The American government, soldiers knowledgeable about the issue, and institutions accept there is no difference between the YPG and PKK," said Cavusoglu according to Kurdistan24 Bureau in the Turkish capital.

Tillerson who spoke after Cavusoglu did not confirm or refute his claim that the US saw the YPG and the PKK as no different.

Top US generals and diplomats have consistently refused to associate the YPG with the PKK, despite close ideological and military ties.

To soothe the Turks' frustration with the purposeful US support for the YPG against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, Tillerson said they continued to work with Turkey to fight "terror" and condemned recent PKK attacks against Turkish troops.

Tillerson who earlier sat down with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there was no space between Turkey and the US to defeat Daesh, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamist group.

In meetings with the PM and Erdogan, Tillerson discussed Syria, Iraq, the fight against the IS and the US-based Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen whose followers Turkey holds responsible for the failed 2016 military coup attempt.

"What we discussed today are options that are available to us. They are difficult options. Let me be very frank, it's not easy, they are difficult choices that have to be made," Tillerson told reporters.

Cavusoglu chose to blame the administration of former President Barack Obama for the continued and currently deepening US backing of the YPG whose affiliates have now arrived at the gates of the de facto capital city of the IS, Raqqa in Syria.

With the departure of Obama, Turkey's leaders initially hoped Trump would abandon Syrian Kurdish groups, but as Pentagon's plans to capture Raqqa hastened the new administration threw even more support behind the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

A lack of viable alternatives to the YPG-dominated forces, and Turkey's prioritizing the Kurds as a threat rather than the IS contributed to the strained ties between the two NATO allies.

Editing by Ava Homa