Erdogan accuses US of breaking promises on Syria’s Manbij

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has censured the United States over its non-compliance with a deal reached in June on the withdrawal of Washington-backed Kurdish militants from Syria’s northern city of Manbij.

In June, Turkey and the US agreed on a plan for the withdrawal of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated and anti-Damascus militant group that has the support of Washington, from Manbij.

Ankara considers the SDF as largely composed of militants from the People's Protection Units (YPG), viewed by the Turkish government as a terror group and the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The latter has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.

According to the deal, the Turkish and American troops are now carrying out patrols in Manbij to clear the area of the militants.

However, the Hurriyet newspaper on Friday quoted Erdogan as saying that the YPG militants remain in the city, adding that the US has not kept up with the roadmap agreed back in June.

"The United States certainly did not comply with the agreed calendar of the Manbij roadmap; YPG did not exit the area. The real owners of the region are not settled in yet," Erdogan told reporters following his recent visit to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

"The United States did not keep their promise here," he added.

The June agreement ended months of tensions between the two NATO allies over Washington’s support for Kurdish militants.

SS