image

Turkey-U.S. endorse roadmap for Syria’s Manbij

Turkey and the United States have endorsed a roadmap for resolving a bilateral dispute on the matter of Syria’s Manbij province, a territory ruled by U.S-backed Kurdish militias that are viewed by Ankara as terrorist organizations. The agreement was reached during a meeting in Washington between Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Both parties agreed to work together in addressing issues of common interests and taking joint steps to ensure the security and stability in Manbij. While the statement did not explicitly spell out how Turkey and the United States would resolve the Manbij issue or detail the next steps of the plan, the Kurdish YPG militia announced its full withdrawal from Manbij province, effectively allowing Turkish forces to enter the territory unhindered. The agreement between the two NATO allies is expected to narrow the differences of the U.S. and Turkey on Syria, after years of bad relations between the two countries over Washington’s support for Kurdish militias – local forces that assisted the U.S.-led coalition in its efforts to eradicate the Islamic State from the war-torn-Syria.