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ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The United States on Tuesday (November 6th) offered awards for their information on three prominent members of the underground Workers' Party of the Kurdistan (PKK) who is carrying out an armed insurgency against the Turkish state. for decades.
This decision could help Washington restore tense ties with NATO's ally, Ankara.
Turkey has been exasperated by US support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria. Ankara regards the YPG as an extension of the PKK outlaw and, like him, a terrorist organization.
On Tuesday, Washington authorized rewards of up to US $ 5 million for information "allowing the identification or location" of Murat Karayilan, up to US $ 4 million for Cemil Bayik and up to US $ 3 million for Duran Kalkan.
The US embassy in Ankara made the announcement following the visit of US Deputy Secretary of State Matthew Palmer.
The three PKK figures are also on the list of "most wanted terrorists" in Turkey, according to the Interior Ministry, which describes them as part of the organization's leaders.
The PKK, designated terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984.
Relations between Turkey and the US have begun to thaw since the release of US evangelical prisoner Andrew Brunson last month.
Last week, the two countries lifted mutual sanctions imposed on government officials, imposed in August in the Brunson case. Washington announced this week that Turkey would receive a temporary waiver as a result of the imposition of sanctions on Iran.
President Tayyip Erdogan also said Tuesday that talks with the United States about the state-owned lender, Halkbank, which had been fined for escaping sanctions against Iran, were going well.
US and Turkish troops began last week conducting joint patrols in Manbij, Syria, as both sides agreed to eliminate militants. Turkey had previously stated that the United States was delaying the implementation of the plan.
Trump and Erdogan are scheduled to meet this weekend at a summit in Paris.
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