Turkey’s military chief of Staff, General Hulusi Akar, met with his American and Russian counterparts, for a first such trilateral meeting. The three top generals discuss regional security challenges, with a primary focus on Syria and Iraq. Still photographs released by the Turkish army showed Akar sitting with US Chairman of the joint chiefs of Staff, Joseph Francis Dunford and Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov during the trilateral meeting, which was conducted behind closed doors. The meeting coincided with a Turkish declaration that it does not plan a military campaign against the Syrian town of Manbij, currently under Kurdish control, without coordinating with Washington and Moscow, which have a military presence in the area.
“There is no point in starting an operation without coordinating it with Russia and the United States. There wouldn’t be much of a result and things could get more complicated. Therefore, talks are underway on technical and military level,” said Binali Yildirim, Turkish Prime Minister.
Last week Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the city of Manbij would be the next target in the military campaign Turkey is waging alongside Syrian rebels in northern Syria against both Islamic State militants and the Kurdish YPG militia. The city, which is located next to the border of Turkey, was conquered from the Islamic State by Kurdish militias and their allies, backed by the US-led coalition, in August of 2016. Since then, Ankara has demanded the Kurdish forces to withdraw from its border region – a demand vehemently rejected by the Kurdish militias operating in that area.