Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is holding ongoing meetings with Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants, independent news site T4 reported.

"Are the presidential palace and its keeper directing outlandish accusations at the CHP in order to cover their meetings with the PKK/ PYD? When did these direct meetings begin?’’ CHP Spokesperson Faik Öztrak, who spoke at the party’s headquarters in Ankara, said.

Turkey views the YPG, the force that makes up backbone of the SDF, as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group which has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey for over three decades.

Öztrak during his speech referred to a statement U.S. Defense Department’s chief spokesman and Acting Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Charles Summers earlier this month that the Turkish government and the SDF were discussing a safe zone on the border of Turkey and Syria. The Pentagon later clarified that the SDF and Turkey were not in talks with each other.

Meanwhile, U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement and Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Ambassador James Jeffrey arrived in Ankara to discuss bilateral issues between the United States and Turkey and the safe zone disagreement in northeastern Syria, among other issues.

Ankara wants to create a safe zone in northeast Syria to protect itself against the Syrian YPG, which it designates a terrorist organisation.