Turkey, US agree on plan to resolve rift over Syria town

ANKARA — Turkey and the United States have endorsed a road map which envisages the withdrawal of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, from the Syrian town of Manbij, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after a long-awaited meeting with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo on Monday.

“In the first stage, there is removal of the YPG from Manbij. Turkish and US forces will provide security,” Cavusoglu said after the meeting.

He also said they would enable Syrians, particularly those in Turkey that had to “flee under the pressure of the YPG”, to return home.

Cavusoglu did not give any detail on the timetable of the road map, but earlier reports by state-run Anadolu Agency suggested that the YPG will leave Manbij in 30 days after the agreement between Turkey and the US.

A new governing body of Manbij will be established within the 60 days after June 4, according to the plan.

The two countries also considered establishing a working group on Syria on their cooperation in the war-torn country, it added.

The ministers’ meeting in Washington came after a monthslong negotiation between officials from Turkey and the US over the latter’s support to the YPG.

The Turkish government sees the YPG as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US.

The YPG has built up its forces in Syria after defeating the Islamic State group in the region with the support from Washington.

The meeting between Cavusoglu and Pompeo is a “turning point” for bilateral ties between Ankara and Washington, as the alliance between the two NATO members had been strained over disagreements on the Syrian crisis, Ali Faik Demir, an associate professor from International Relations Department said.

But the US is unlikely to entirely give up support to the YPG, because the group is its only resource on the battlefield in Syria, the Turkish expert added.