US committed to Turkey security: Obama
US President Barack Obama has reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Turkey's security.
Obama reiterated the US commitment during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in Washington on Wednesday.
The White House said the two sides also discussed their countries' efforts to fight Daesh (ISIL), and that Obama offered condolences over Thursday’s deadly bombing in Turkey.
It said in a statement that "the president extended condolences to President Erdogan on behalf of the American people for those killed and injured in today's terrorist attack in Diyarbakir, and reaffirmed the support of the United States for Turkey's security and our mutual struggle against terrorism."
Earlier in the day, a car bomb attack targeting Turkish police forces left seven officers dead and at least 27 people injured in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey.
The White House added that "the leaders also discussed how to advance our shared effort to degrade and destroy ISIL."
Relations between the two allies have recently cooled over the US support for Kurds in Syria.
Turkey, which has been among the main supporters of the militant groups operating in Syria, has been attacking positions of Kurdish People’s Protection Units, also known as the YPG, over the past few months, accusing them of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group which fights against Ankara.
The YPG, which is nearly in control of Syria’s entire northern border with Turkey, has been fighting against Daesh, which has seized parts of Iraq and Syria.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in February that the US should break ties with Kurdish fighters, adding “resorting to terrorist groups like the YPG is above all a sign of weakness."
Cavusoglu accused the United States of making conflicting statements about the Syrian Kurdish fighters who, Ankara says, were working with members of the outlawed PKK.
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