Kurdish militants to withdraw advisors from Syria’s Manbij
The Syrian People’s Protection Units (YPG) has announced that it will take its advisors out of Syria’s northern city of Manbij a day after the US and Turkey agreed on a roadmap for withdrawal of the Kurdish militant group from the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, the YPG said its fighting forces had withdrawn from Manbij last November, but the group’s military advisors remained in the area to assist the Manbij Military Council.
Following a meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Monday, the two sides agreed on a plan for the withdrawal of the YPG from Manbij in an attempt to put an end to a months-long dispute between the two NATO allies.
Turkey and the US also agreed to implement the roadmap to other regions in Syria.
Ankara and Washington have been at loggerheads over the latter’s support for the YPG operating at the Turkish doorstep.
Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group and an affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but the US considers the Kurdish group an ally in Syria.
The US angered Turkey by announcing a plan for the formation of a Kurdish militant force in Syria near the Turkish border, prompting Ankara in January to launch a military operation against the US-backed militants.
Earlier this year, Turkey seized the Syrian city of Afrin and threatened to expand its offensive to Manbij.
Ankara has repeatedly accused Washington of failing to fulfill its promise regarding the withdrawal of its allied militants from Manbij after the purge of the Daesh terrorist group in August 2016.
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