By Safvan Allahverdi

WASHINGTON

The Pentagon on Saturday recognized Turkey's security concerns about the PKK terrorist organization, its spokesman said on Saturday.

"We recognize Turkey's security concerns about the PKK, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization," Adrian Rankine-Galloway, the Pentagon’s spokesman said in a statement sent to Anadolu Agency.

"The U.S. does not provide any support to PKK," it said.

The statement came after Turkey launched an operation, dubbed as “Operation Olive Branch” in Afrin region, Syria, which aims to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and the region as well as to eliminate terrorists and protect Syrian people from the terrorists’ oppression and cruelty.

The operation is carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council’s decisions and self-defense right under UN charter, said the military.

Rankine-Galloway also called on "all parties" to avoid escalation and to focus on Daesh.

The PYD/PKK is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist group, which has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.

Since the mid-1980s, the PKK has waged a wide-ranging terror campaign against the Turkish state in which an estimated 40,000 people have been killed.