High-level Uzbek delegation visits YPG terrorists

AN UZBEK delegation led by a senior adviser to the Uzbek prime minister visited the PKK terror group’s Syrian branch YPG terrorists in northern Syria, Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported Friday.

According to the report, the delegation, led by Mehriddin Khairiddinov, visited Abdulkarim Omar, the co-chair of the YPG’s so-called foreign office.

No details have been provided about what was discussed in the meeting, the report said.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has not made a statement about the provocative meeting. Last month, the Turkish and Uzbek defense ministers signed a military agreement and underlined their will to further cooperate in the fields of military, defense and security.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stated that though slowdowns are witnessed from time to time, Turkey put a strong emphasis on bilateral relations. He further stressed that both countries enjoyed a strategic partnership based on strong brotherly ties.

Support of the YPG by France, the United States and several other Western countries has become one of the stumbling blocks in bilateral ties between Turkey and other NATO allies.

Turkey strongly opposes the YPG’s presence in northern Syria. The U.S., meanwhile, has provided military training and thousands of truckloads of weaponry to the YPG, despite designating the PKK as a terrorist organization and despite its NATO ally’s security concerns. Turkey considers the YPG and PKK to be the same groups with different names.