The US on Monday has denied reports that it was in secret talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“There's no talks with the PKK. So no direct, no indirect — there's no talks with the PKK,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday. “This is a foreign terrorist organization. We don't sit down and have talks with the PKK.”
The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that PKK leaders have been in indirect talks with Washington in a bid to get the US to mediate between the militants and Turkey.
The report cited Cemil Bayik, one of three of the group’s interim leaders, who declined to identify who the interlocutors were.
The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US.
“Nothing has changed about our position on the PKK. They need to renounce the violence. They need to resume a peace process, and stop attacking the Turks inside Turkey,” Kirby said.
