US, Turkey agree on withdrawal of Kurdish militia from Manbij

The Syrian Kurdish YPG on Tuesday said it will leave Manbij after Turkey and the United States the day prior agreed on the militia’s withdrawal.

Turkey has long demanded the YPG withdraw from Syria’s northern border with the nation. In a new roadmap agreed upon by Ankara and Washington on Monday, the Syrian Kurds will leave and the U.S. and Turkey will jointly maintain security in the city.

“We affirm that our forces will heed the call when necessary to offer support and help to the people of Manbij should it be needed,” the YPG said in a statement.

The YPG said fighters left Manbij in November 2016 after the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria there. Military advisers stayed, however, to work with the Manbij Military Council, according to the statement. Those advisers will now leave.

Washington has backed the YPG, which is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, in its fight against ISIS. But Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group, connected to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey.

The mismatched view between the U.S. and it’s NATO ally has caused a number of issues in the past year. Turkish forces in March seized Afrin, Syria, from the YPG, a move the U.S. State Department said it was “deeply concerned” over.

After that battle, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey would push east to Manbij with its forces, a move which would potentially confront U.S. forces stationed with the Kurdish militia.

On Monday the U.S. sought to alleviate issues at a meeting in Washington between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The two agreed on a roadmap for removing the YPG from Manbij.

U.S. officials have since said details still need to be negotiated on the roadmap.

The rest of this article consists of "Cavusoglu said". I don't know what the author has been listening to, but the entire gist of the article flies in the face of reality.

The YPG removed from Manbij has long ago been done. They did continue to support them when needed. And Manbij sent forces to help defend Efrin (Afrin). They are a close tight knit group.

Everywhere that YPG and SDF liberated is now run by locals and life is peaceful. Every place that Turkey took control of in Syria is in constant conflict and the Islamist Militias are fighting.

There is NO WAY the the YPG will disarm and move to the East of the Euphrates River. Erdogan can demand and Cavusoglu can dream, but it is NOT going to happen.

Turkey invaded Efrin (Afrin) in January, for over 2 months they fought the YPG in order to take the city of Efrin. They are sill fighting off attacks.

For the past 2 months Turkey has invaded Iraq and nearby places with large forces. They are attempting to take Qandril, Turkey is taking heavy casualties daily. And are no where close to their target.

I'm personally sick of listening to Erdogan the Islamist's demands. He is not an ally, to NATO or to the US. Can Turkey be saved? Nobody knows. The election are on the 24th. We wait.

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