Turkish FM says reports of Manbij villages handover are false

Record ID: 348024

  • Title: Turkish FM says reports of Manbij villages handover are false
  • Date: 2nd March 2017
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (MARCH 2, 2017) (REUTERS) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER. MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU, WALKING BY AND ENTERING INSIDE FOR PARLIAMENT'S FOREIGN MINISTRY COMMISSION MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER, MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU, SAYING: "As you know, we hear different types of news and speculations. None of them are confirmed. For the past few days, untrue news repor
  • Embargoed: 16th March 2017 15:34
  • Keywords: Turkey Syria Russia United States Manbij Raqqa conflict YPG Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
  • Location: ANKARA, TURKEY
  • City: ANKARA, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA001669PPVR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Reports that a U.S.-allied militia in northern Syria had agreed under a deal with Russia to hand over villages on the front line with Turkey-backed rebels to Syrian government control are false, Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday (March 2).
    "For the past few days, untrue news reports are being spread. These are not true but the regime forces are moving towards the East. We reached an agreement with Russia to prevent a confrontation between Syrian forces and opposition forces particularly around al-Bab," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavisoglu said.
    However, an official in the Manbij Military Council told Reuters that the villages will be surrendered to the Syrian government in the coming days. An earlier statement by the council said the villages would be handed to Syrian border guards.
    The villages west of the city of Manbij have been a focus of fighting between the Turkish-backed rebels and the Manbij Military Council, the U.S.-allied militia, since Wednesday (March 1).
    Cavusoglu said Manbij was the next target of Ankara's campaign in northern Syria following the capture of nearby al-Bab from Islamic State last week.
    The Manbij Military Council is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed group of militias that includes the powerful Kurdish YPG group. The SDF captured the area around Manbij from Islamic State militants last year.
    Turkey's campaign in Syria is aimed at driving Islamic State from its border and at preventing expansion in the area by the YPG, which it regards as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is waging an insurgency against Ankara.
    Cavusoglu said Turkey did not want the United States to continue cooperating with Kurdish groups and added that Turkey had repeatedly warned it would strike Kurdish militants if they remained in Manbij.
    "We are aware that U.S. special forces are present in that region. We know that they are also present in other areas where YPG forces are deployed. YPG forces should leave Manbij as soon as possible. This is our demand from the new U.S. administration," he said.
    The head of U.S forces fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria said on Wednesday that talks were underway with Turkey on the role it might play in liberating the militant group's de facto capital of Raqqa.
    "Now, we are discussing how we can carry out the Raqqa operation together with the United States, which groups we can support and how we can support them. We are discussing (how to carry out this operation) not only as Turkey and the United States but also together with the allies such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom. There may be air strikes," said Cavusoglu.
    The multi-sided Syrian conflict began in 2011, drawing in regional states, the United States and Russia and leading to the country's fragmentation into a patchwork of areas controlled by different armed groups.
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