“These operations will be conducted in a manner consistent with the promise made between the two countries,” Pentagon spokesperson Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency on Monday, speaking about the Manbij operation.
Turkey has long opposed the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) advancing west of the Euphrates. It nevertheless acquiesced to the Manbij operation after the US promised that the offensive would be Arab-led, with the YPG playing only a supporting role and withdrawing from the area after the conclusion of the military operation.
The operation was led by the YPG-dominated SDF under the auspices of the Manbij Military Council, which was formed for the purpose of overseeing the military campaign and the post-liberation management of the city.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on Monday said that Ankara expects the Kurds and the United States to honor the agreement.
The United States and Ankara remain in constant communication regarding Manbij and other issues, Rankine-Galloway said.
He noted that the current situation in the city is “very fluid” and that the United States could not commit to a timeline for the final positioning of forces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday that the SDF have advanced to the southwest and southeast of Manbij, into the villages of Eilan, al-Gharra al-Kabira and al-Gharra al-Saghira.
The SDF are pushing westward in order to liberate the city of al-Bab from the Islamic State under the umbrella of the newly formed al-Bab Military Council. Al-Bab lies 50 kilometers southwest of Manbij.
The Kurds’ ultimate goal is to unite its western canton of Afrin with its eastern cantons of Kobane and Cizre.
