U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has started his meeting with Turkey's National Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli in Ankara.
According to diplomatic sources, the ongoing fight against ISIS, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) upcoming independence referendum and Turkey's concern about the PYD and YPG are expected to be the main issues discussed. the Daily Sabah reported.
Ankara considers the YPG to be a national threat and they are concerned about U.S. arms support to the YPG. In order to ease Ankara's strong objection Mattis sent a letter to Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar in June as part of a mechanism to inform Ankara about the weapons the U.S. provides to the YPG.
