Former Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu Requested Meeting Clinton in 2015

Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu sought a meeting with Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the UN General Assembly in September 2015, emails by Clinton campaign chair John Podesta leaked by WikiLeaks on Thursday revealed.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The diplomat noted in the email, sent on September 9, 2015, that the request had been filed in light of Davutoglu’s "prior friendship" with Clinton during their terms as foreign minister and secretary of state.

"Her [Clinton’s] schedule is quite difficult, but this would be a priority meeting if at all possible," Podesta wrote in response to a request for the meeting sent by Turkish diplomat İsmail Cobanoglu.

The timing of the request coincides with the strain in US-Turkey relationship over support for the Kurdish forces.

Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds escalated in July 2015 when a ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) collapsed over a series of terrorist attacks, allegedly committed by PKK members.

Ankara considers the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its military wing YPG (People's Protection Units) operating in Syria an affiliate of PKK, which is outlawed in Turkey. At the same time, the PKK denies having any ties to the PYD.

The United States has been providing military assistance to the Kurdish YPG forces, and top Pentagon officials have described the Kurdish forces as capable and successful fighters against the Islamic State terror group, outlawed in many countries around the world, including the United States and Russia.