MillenniumPost
World

US, Turkey can begin 'more productive' talk: Pompeo

Washington: United States Secretary of States Mike Pompeo said, Washington can now begin a 'more productive communication' with Ankara as presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey are over.

Turkey on June 24, re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with more than 52 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. Final results will be announced July 5.

Pompeo on Wednesday, said, US and Turkey have reached an agreement on Manbij Roadmap, as to how their forces would work together to resolve complications between different ethnic groups in the northern Syrian city of Manbij.

"They will ultimately be part of political resolution there and an important part. And we need to recognize that and do our best of work alongside them," Anadolu Agency quoted Pompeo as saying.

The plan was announced following a meeting in Washington between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Pompeo on June 4.

The deal focuses on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terror group from Manbij. It will also work on bringing stability in the region.

The Turkish General Staff said the forces of the two sides conducted patrols separately in the area between the Operation Euphrates Shield region in northern Syria and Manbij, on June 18.

Tensions have existed between the two countries because of the U.S. support for the PYD and its military wing the YPG. Ankara accuses the U.S. of not taking sufficient legal action against Fetullah Gulen, the U.S.-based leader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which according to Turkey is behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

Washington has called the PYD/YPG terror group a "reliable ally" in fighting Daesh in Syria. However, its mother organisation, the PKK, is listed as a terror group by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU.

PKK supposedly has been waging a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, killing nearly 40,000 people.

Next Story
Share it