The U.S. has reiterated a pledge to Turkey to stop arming a Syrian Kurdish militia that Ankara is fighting, the Turkish presidency said on Saturday, after the allies’ ties were strained by Turkey’s offensive in Syria.
The Turkish presidency said U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster “confirmed” to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin in a phone call late on Friday that Washington would “not give weapons to the YPG” militia. Turkey launched its operation “Olive Branch” on January 20 against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, supporting Syrian opposition fighters with ground troops and air strikes.
‘Withdraw from Manbij’
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday the U.S. needs to withdraw from northern Syria’s Manbij region immediately.
Mr. Erdogan had on Friday said the Turkish forces would sweep Kurdish fighters from the Syrian border and could push all the way east, including to Manbij.
