ANKARA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has not been engaged in any diplomatic talks with the U.S. over the ongoing military operation in Syria's Afrin, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.

Spokesperson Hami Aksoy told reporters that the Pentagon's statement regarding Syria's Afrin is not true.

On Monday, The U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Adrian Galloway said that Ankara and Washington are holding diplomatic talks to ease tensions in Afrin.

"There are diplomatic discussions ongoing right now to de-escalate the situation in Afrin," he told reporters in a press briefing, adding the move is "to focus on the fight against the Islamic State(IS)."

During U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to Ankara on Feb. 15-16, the two countries agreed to establish a new mechanism to handle problematic areas, including Syria issue.

The two sides will hold first working group meeting by mid-March as part of the mechanisms.

Manbij will be on the top of the agenda of bilateral talks, according to the joint statement.

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia from Syria's Afrin.

Ankara sees YPG as the Syrian affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a terrorist organization listed by Turkey.