In an unexpected turn of events on Tuesday (16 May), following a vital meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump in Washington, two groups of protesters clashed outside the Turkish embassy.
Mr Erdogan said the United States shouldn't work with the YPG Kurdish militia, a group Turkey considers a terrorist organisation, that Mr Trump plans to arm.
The PYD is the political arm of the YPG in the region.
Erdogan recently voiced displeasure with the Trump administration's decision to arm Syrian-based Kurdish soldiers engaged in the fight against ISIS, for fear the weapons could fall into the hands of other Kurds bent on destabilizing his government.
The protests come in the midst of strained U.S. relations with its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Turkey over the recent arming of Kurdish militia fighting ISIS militants in Syria.
The Trump-Erdogan meeting also took place amid a White House in chaos as Trump officials sought to contrain the fallout from two bombshell stories unfolding on Monday and Tuesday. Turkey charges the Syrian Kurds are closely linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist movement inside Turkey that the USA, the European Union and Turkey all consider a terrorist movement.
"We support Turkey in the first fight against terror and terror groups like ISIS and the PKK, and ensure they have no safe quarter, the terror groups", Trump said.
"We also appreciate Turkey's leadership in seeking an end to the horrific killing in Syria", he added.
Last month, the Turkish military bombed Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq, in one case with American forces only about six miles (10 kilometers) away.
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Ankara regards the YPG as the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a deadly insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.
During the presidential campaign, when Trump was calling for a ban on Muslims entering the country and floating the idea of a Muslim registry, Erdogan called for the then-candidate's name to be removed from Istanbul's Trump Towers, saying Trump had "no tolerance for Muslims".
"The relationship that we have together will be unbeatable", Trump said of joint anti-terror efforts.
Erdogan met at the White House with US President Donald Trump for a visit that aimed to improve strained ties.
Erdogan has been under fire for a contested referendum that vastly expanded his executive power, as well as his government's crackdown on dissidents and civil society after an attempted coup last summer.
"One of the YPG supporters ran across, picked up a megaphone, and hit a Turkish citizen with it", said another pro-Erdogan demonstrator, Busra Eren, referring to the Kurdish militia group.
But during their appearance on Tuesday, Trump made no mention of Erdogan's record on dissent and free speech, although they have been areas of concern for some Western leaders.
Mr Erdogan also said he had pressed the United States to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the failed coup against him last July. Erdogan blames Gulen for coordinating a coup against him last July. Mr. Gulen is living in exile in Pennsylvania, and US officials have said that so far they lack the evidence to extradite him. Kalin did not specify exactly what steps they discussed.
New York Post also reported that the attackers were the security detail of Erdogan.
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