Mark Toner

A series of Turkish airstrikes targeting American-allied Kurdish militias in Iraq and Syria threaten to put Turkey and the United States on a “collision course,” experts have warned.

The U.S. State Department said it was "deeply concerned" over the Turkish air strikes on the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, adding that the raids were putting the U.S. soldiers on the field at risk. 

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a phone conversation late on April 25, after the latter criticized Turkey for bombing Iraq's Sinjar region and northeastern Syria earlier on the same day.

Russia and the United States have a shared understanding that U.S. air strikes on Syria should not be repeated, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moualem in Moscow on April 13, Interfax news agency reported.

The United States is concerned over the level of democracy in its ally Turkey and is talking to the government on the matter, U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said on April 13, commenting on the April 16 referendum on constitutional amendments.

The United States has urged Turkish authorities to "ensure political freedom," free speech and the independence of the judiciary, the U.S. State Department spokesperson said on April 11, responding to a question on the upcoming charter referendum in Turkey. 

The United States has called on Turkey and European countries to "tone down the rhetoric," amid tension between Ankara and the continent that kindled with the barring of Turkish officials to campaign for the upcoming constitutional referendum. with later heating up with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Nazism remarks on the European countries.

The United States has called on Turkey to respect and ensure essential freedoms over concerns on human rights issues and freedoms in the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on March 16 that the escalating threat from North Korea's nuclear program showed a clear need for a "new approach," although he stopped short of detailing what steps the Trump administration would pursue.

The United States supports the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria despite Turkey's concerns over the issue, U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner has said, repeating that Washington still views the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization.