Turkey gave Washington advance warning before launching an operation against US-allied Syrian Kurdish forces, and Ankara has “legitimate” security concerns in the area, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday. “Turkey was candid. Turkey “is the only NATO country with an active insurgency inside its borders, and Turkey has legitimate security concerns,” Mattis said, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a separatist struggle against Ankara since 1984.
