Manbij District

The Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) is set to leave the northern Syrian city of Manbij following a roadmap reached between the U.S. and Turkey, a U.S. spokeswoman told reporters on June 6.

The United States doesn’t have any agreements yet with Turkey on Manbij in northern Syria, the State Department said on May 29.

Diplomats from Turkey and the United States held talks in Ankara on May 25 to discuss joint efforts to coordinate their actions in Syria, particularly in the Manbij province, a Turkish diplomat said.

Diplomats from Turkey and the United States are holding talks in Ankara to discuss joint efforts to coordinate their actions in Syria, particularly in the Manbij province, a Turkish diplomat said. 

France said on March 30 it is not planning a unilateral military operation in Syria outside the international coalition fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after senior Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) officials claimed Paris was planning to send troops.

The United States "has no intention to leave Manbij," said the U.S. Department of State spokesperson on March 22, despite Turkey's pledge to clear the People's Protection Units (YPG) from Manbij, in northern Syria.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Feb. 9 he will meet with his Turkish counterpart Nurettin Canikli in Brussels next week amid U.S. concern over Turkey’s plans to launch a military operation in Manbij, Syria.

Recent remarks by a defector from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on U.S. support to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and a deal the group signed with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) reveal the games being played in the guise of fighting ISIL, ruling Justice and Development (AKP) spokesperson Mahir Ünal has said.

The former spokesman of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militant group dominated by the Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), has said the SDF struck deals with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on three separate occasions to evacuate them from certain areas, including Raqqa.

Outgoing army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the Iraq-based commander of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has made it clear that Washington will continue to cooperate with the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) inside the Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its bid to sweep jihadists from the Middle Euph