Turkey, US reach deal on plan for withdrawal of YPG militia from Syria’s Manbij
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey and the United States agreed on a three-step plan for withdrawing the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from Syria’s Manbij, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday.
The report comes as differences over Syria policy and Washington’s decision in December to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem have strained ties between the NATO members.
Turkey is outraged by US support for the YPG militia, considering it a terrorist organization. Ankara has threatened to push its offensive in northern Syria’s Afrin region further east to Manbij.
Manbij is a potential flashpoint. The Syrian government, Kurdish militants, Syrian rebel groups, Turkey, and the United States all have a military presence in northern Syria.
On Wednesday, Anadolu said Ankara and Washington had reached a technical agreement on a three-step plan for the withdrawal of the YPG from Manbij, a move Turkey has long sought from the United States.
Under the terms of the plan to be finalized during a visit by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Washington on Monday, the YPG will withdraw from Manbij 30 days after the deal is signed, Anadolu said, quoting sources who attended meetings at which the decisions were made.
Turkish and US military forces will start joint supervision in Manbij 45 days after the agreement is signed and a local administration will be formed 60 days after Monday, Anadolu said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Cavusoglu told broadcaster AHaber that a timetable for the Manbij plans could be set during talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington, and that it could be implemented before the end of the summer.
Cavusoglu was also quoted by media on his return flight from Germany saying that, if finalized, the plan for Manbij could be applied throughout northern Syria.
However, a local Manbij official later told Reuters that Cavusoglu’s assertions that US and Turkish forces would temporarily control the region were “premature” and lacked credibility.