Bells Ring for US, Turkey Confrontation in Syria; Washington Not to Abandon Manbij

TEHRAN (defapress)- Kurdish sources reported that as Turkey is attempting to purge Northern Syria, including Manbij, of Kurdish forces, Washington continues to support the Kurds in the region.

News ID: 69298

Date: 20 March 2018 - 15:05

Al-Mayadeen news channel quoted Kurdish sources as saying on Tuesday that a meeting was held between the US delegation and a number of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commanders in Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo.

They added that during the meeting, the US forces have underlined that they will remain committed to their promises to the SDF and defending Manbij.

Tensions are on the rise between Turkey and the US after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that his country's army plan to expand their invasion of the Kurdish-held territories in Syria from Afrin to Manbij where some 3,000 US military forces are deployed.

Since the start of Operation “Olive Branch” by Ankara and its allied militants, Turkey has stressed that its forces would spread to the East and now Erdogan says his army would soon invade Manbij and continue the assault to the border with Iraq some 900km away.

"We will be clearing our borders of terrorists up to the territory of Iraq. Manbij will be also cleared of terrorists, as we promised. I am addressing those who urge us to stop the operation as soon as possible — if you were hit by missiles, what would you do?" Erdogan said in remarks that are deemed as implied threat to the US that has stationed some 3,000 military men in the Kurdish-held city in Syria's Northwestern province of Aleppo.

As Erdogan warned that Turkey will rid Syria's Manbij of terrorists after Afrin and nobody should be bothered by this, US claimed that its military forces are deployed in and around Manbij to deter Turkish and Washington-backed fighters from attacking each other, a claim that has already been refuted by the Kurds.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also warned that it was "necessary for them (US) to immediately withdraw from Manbij" as well as take "more concrete steps rather than words" to end support for the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

A Turkish assault on Manbij could bring its forces into direct conflict with the Americans, with unpredictable results, while the US has kept calm about its decision over a pull out from the town, and sometimes sends mixed messages.