U.S. and Turkey agree on a stabilization plan in Syrian Manbij
The U.S. and Turkey approved a road map for stabilizing the situation in the Syrian city of Manbij, as reported in a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
It was noted that the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed their commitment to continue the joint fight against terrorism in the region, and also reviewed the recommendations of the Turkish-American Working Group on Syria.
“They approved the road map and stressed their commitment to the implementation of its points. This reflects their agreement on the need to closely monitor developments,” the report said.
In late April, Ankara reported on the agreement with Washington concerning joint action in Manbij. In early April, Anadolu reported that construction had started on two U.S. military bases in the Kurdish-controlled Manbij district.
On January 20, the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces declared the start of Operation Olive Branch against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (part of the SDF coalition) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Afrin, where roughly 1.5 million Kurds and refugees from other Syrian provinces live. Ankara views both the SDF and the PYD as terrorist organizations. On March 18, Turkey’s General Staff announced that it had taken the city of Afrin under control, and on March 24 the military department reported that it had taken control of the entire Afrin region in north-western Syria.