Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Presidents Barack Obama and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet on September 4 amid tensions over Turkey’s ongoing operation Euphrates Shield, Anadolu reported on August 29.

The meeting will take place this week before the G20 summit in China, Obama’s deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters at the White House.

“President Obama wants to discuss, obviously, the circumstances in Turkey since the attempted coup, as well as our counter-ISIL campaign and our efforts to promote greater stability in Syria and response to the refugee crisis,” Rhodes said.

The meeting will be the first between Obama and Erdogan since the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey.

It comes as the U.S. has urged Turkey to focus its efforts in Syria on Daesh, and to avoid engaging with the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Washington’s principal partner in Syria.

Turkey views the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror group, which the U.S. and EU also list as a terrorist organization.

On August 24 morning, the Turkish Air Force with the support of the coalition aircrafts launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo city.

The operation was carried out under the name “Shield of the Euphrates.” Jarabulus is located 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that this operation will continue until the PYD militants are completely liquidated.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department expanded the list of the voluntarily departing diplomats and their family members from the U.S. embassy and Consulate General in Turkey due to the unstable security situation.

The State Department took this decision in connection with the “increased threats to the U.S. citizens from terrorist groups in Turkey, especially in south-eastern Turkey.

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