WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA) MESOPOTAMIA NEWS UPDATE : US & TURKEY DECLARE COOPERATION OVER MANBIJ IN NORTH

by Scott Lucas | Oct 2, 2018 | eaworldview –  The US and Turkey have declared cooperation in northern Syria, with plans for training of joint patrols in the flashpoint area of Manbij in Aleppo Province.

US-supported, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured Manbij, about 95 km northeast of Aleppo city, from the Islamic State in summer 2016. The advance fostered tension with Turkey, which holds that the Kurdish militia YPG — the leading group in the SDF — is part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkish forces would retake Manbij, with a majority Arab population; however, a combination of US, Russian, and Assad regime personnel deterred any attack. For months, Ankara and the Pentagon have been discussing an arrangement to oversee the area. In March, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu backtracked on an announcement of an agreement.

But on Monday, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed last month’s announcement by the Turkish Government that training and implementation of joint patrols and training will begin soon in Turkey: The training now is under way and we’ll just have to see how that goes.We have every reason to believe the joint patrols will be coming on time, when the training syllabus is complete so that we do it right.

Mattis is in Paris for talks, including on the Syrian situation, with French counterparts and President Emmanuel Macron. www.mesop.de