Turkish FM talks to US counterpart on the phone for second time in three days
ANKARA
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson over the phone on Nov. 5, Anadolu Agency reported citing diplomatic sources.
The conversation came just two days after phone call in which the two top diplomats discussed bilateral ties and cooperation on counter-terrorism, according to the report.
About Nov. 3's call, Çavuşoğlu told a local TV station that he and Tillerson discussed Turkey's request for the extradition of U.S-based preacher Fethullah Gülen, widely believed to have orchestrated the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt, and the weapons the U.S. provided to the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
The Turkish government considers the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s’ Party (PKK), recognized as terrorist organization by Turkey and the U.S., while the
U.S. sees it as a separate group and “reliable ally” in its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria.
