The United States recognizes Turkey's concerns over the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) amid the new Turkish military operation in northern Syria, but calls on all sides to avoid escalation and focus on countering terrorism, Pentagon representative Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Sputnik Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Turkey announced the launch of "Operation Olive Branch" in northern Syria's Afrin district, prompting condemnation by Syrian government.
"We recognize Turkey's security concerns about the PKK, a US-designated (and Turkey as well) foreign terrorist organization. The US does not provide any support to PKK ... We encourage all parties to avoid escalation and to focus on the most important task of defeating ISIS," Rankine-Galloway said.
"The US-led Coalition does not have operations ongoing in Afrin because it is focused on military operations against ISIS,” he added.
YPG is considered a "terrorist group" by Turkey because of its ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long armed conflict in Turkey.
