ANKARA, Feb 23 (KUNA) -- Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar said Saturday the United States agreed to work with his country for early conclusion of a roadmap for Manbij city in Aleppo governorate, north Syria.
The planned Manbij deal between Turkey and the US focuses on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the city to stabilize northern Syria, he told Turkey's Anadolu Agency.
The Turkish minister made the comments following his meeting with Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan at the Pentagon yesterday in the presence of Turkish Chief of General Staff Yasar Guler.
He said he and Guler reminded the US side that there should be no authority gap during the US troop withdrawal from Syria. Turkey vowed to carry out a counterterror operation in Syria, east of the Euphrates, following two similar successful operations against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) - the armed wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), since 2016. On June 18, 2018, Washington announced that the US-backed YPG pulled out troops from Manbij in order to stabilize the region.
During the meeting, the Turkish side raised the issue of the extradition to Turkey of Fetullah Gulen, the US-based leader of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), and other members of the terror group residing in the US soil, Akar said.
He added that Ankara "will follow the issue closely in upcoming days," according to the AA report. FETO and its leader Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured. Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, including the military, police and the judiciary.
Akar and Guler arrived in Washington on Friday to discuss Syria and other bilateral and regional issues with the US officials as well as Turkey's acquisition of the US F-35 fighter jets and the Patriot missile defense system. (pickup previous) rs.gb