国际英语资讯:Spotlight: PKK jailed leaders call reinforces claims of Turkeys talks with Syrian Kurdis_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: PKK jailed leaders call reinforces claims of Turkeys talks with Syrian Kurdis

Back in mid-April, the U.S. Pentagon spokesman Charles Summers claimed that Turkey was in talks with the SDF about "legitimate issues."

Summers' remark came in response to a question about a security zone the United States had proposed to establish in YPG-held territory along the Turkish border to convince Ankara that the Kurdish militia would pose no security threat to it.

Remarks by Ocalan and Summers indicate a sort of back-door diplomacy going on between Ankara and the YPG, said Nihat Ali Ozcan, a security policy analyst.

"But that doesn't mean there is consensus," he told Xinhua.

Omer Celik, spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, denied any talks with the SDF on May 1 when the spokesman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) asked about the content of the alleged negotiations.

Celik described the CHP spokesman's claim as slander, accusing the party of serving as a tool for U.S. propaganda.

Turkish officials denied negotiations with the PKK in the past, but it later came out that some top intelligence officials had talks with PKK representatives on the government's instructions.

"Negotiating with the SDF amounts to nothing less than recognizing it as a political actor," said Dilek.

Ankara has often threatened to carry out a cross-border operation to eliminate the YPG in northeastern Syria, but has refrained from taking action apparently because of Washington's declared support for the Kurdish militia.