US refutes senior PKK figure over ‘indirect talks’ claim

ISTANBUL

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The United States Department of State has refuted a senior PKK figure’s remarks which appeared Aug. 17 on British media that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was indirectly in talks with the U.S. amid the ongoing clashes with Turkey.State Spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. was in neither direct nor indirect talks with the PKK, adding the U.S.’ stance on the organization had not changed.“I can tell you that we are not in direct talks with the PKK - absolutely not. This is a foreign terrorist organization. We don’t sit down and have talks with the PKK. Nothing’s changed about our position on the PKK - that they need to renounce the violence, they need to resume a peace process and stop attacking the Turks inside Turkey,” Kirby said.Cemil Bayık, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council co-chair and a senior figure within the organization, had said the PKK would accept a cease-fire under U.S. guarantees while referring to indirect talks with the U.S., in an interview with Daily Telegraph.“Of course there are messages, there are meetings, letters and they are likely to develop more,” Bayık had said.