Turkey expects Syrian Kurdish forces to withdraw after Manbij operation: minister

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu addresses the media in Ankara, Turkey, July 29, 2016. REUTERS photo

Turkey expects Syrian Kurdish YPG forces to withdraw east of the Euphrates river after they and other U.S.-backed forces seized control of the Syrian town of Manbij from Islamic State fighters, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

Turkey says the YPG is a terrorist group tied to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants fighting a three-decade insurgency in its southeast and that Washington has given Ankara assurances that the Manbij operation would be overwhelmingly composed of Syrian Arab fighters.