Turkey, US agree on roadmap for Syria's Manbij

A roadmap drawn up by Turkey and the US will pave way for people forcefully displaced by YPG and PKK terrorists in Manbij, Syria, to return home, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Monday.

Speaking in Washington after meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "First Turkey and the US will work on details of the roadmap to rid Manbij, Syria of the YPG/PKK terror group."

The road map will be implemented in less than six months, he said. 

Urging Washington not to go off on a tangent particularly on the issue of Syria, he said the two sides need to be honest in terms of building a better relationship. 

Emphasising that the purpose of the road map is to ensure the security and stability of Manbij, Cavusoglu said it would be implemented in stages focused on removing the YPG/PKK from the ground and government organisations. 

It also involves joint US-Turkish patrols and a new administration run by locals.

He said the purpose of the roadmap is essentially for Washington to remain faithful to its promise given in 2016 to keep the YPG from running the governing council in Manbij. 

The plan might be extended to other regions of Syria in order to allow people forcefully displaced to return home.

If the Manbij issue was resolved, it would address part of a major issue dividing Ankara and Washington. 

Turkey has long objected to US support for the PYD, a Syrian branch of the terrorist group PKK and the target of Turkey’s recent Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

TRT World's Ediz Tiyansan has more. 

Delivery of F-35 jets

About the delivery of F-35 jets to Turkey --which some US officials have tried to throw doubt on -- Cavusoglu said there is no change in the date. "[Delivery] will be on June 21 as planned."

He said Turkey rejected "threatening language" from the US on the issue, saying it is "not constructive".

Criticising Washington for forcing Turkey not to purchase S-400 air defense systems from Russia, he recalled that Turkey had been trying to purchase US-made Patriot air defense systems but the missiles were not sold when Ankara needed them the most. 

"This is the reason why Turkey, which is in urgent need of these weapons, has chosen to purchase them from Russia."