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ISTANBUL, May 18-- Amid an unexpected call by the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on the Kurdish militia in Syria to heed Turkish concerns, many feel Ankara may be in talks with the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters. The denial of talks by Turkish officials is not convincing given the past government record in this respect, Cahit Armagan Dilek, director of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, told Xinhua. Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader, said in a letter made public by his lawyers early this month that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) should pay heed to Turkey's concerns as they work toward a democratic settlement in war-torn Syria. "This letter indicates that the Erdogan administration has a positive attitude regarding a settlement in Syria in which the SDF is also involved," Dilek argued, noting the letter cannot have been made public without governmental approval. Turkey sees the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia, known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, while the SDF is largely dominated by the YPG. The YPG has carved out two self-declared autonomous cantons along the Turkish border thanks to Washington's military support during the Syrian war. Ocalan's lawyers were allowed on May 2 to visit him in prison, the first since 2011. The part connected with the SDF is the most critical paragraph in Ocalan's letter, stated Dilek, a former captain in the Turkish navy. | 
