Turkey, U.S. to oversee withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from Manbij: Turkish FM

ANKARA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and the U.S. will monitor the pullout of Kurdish militia from the Syrian city of Manbij, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on his flight to Moscow, Cavusoglu said Turkey and the U.S. will decide on the schedule in the plan for securing Manbij from the People's Protection Units (YPG) during talks on March 19.

After the withdrawal of YPG fighters, Turkish and U.S. troops will jointly provide the security in Manbij, the top Turkish diplomat said.

The YPG, regarded by Ankara as the Syrian affiliate of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey, will not be in the local administration of Manbij, Cavusoglu was quoted by local NTV channel as saying.

"We will practice this model first for Manbij, later for other places. East of Euphrates, Raqqa and other places under the control of YPG is included in this plan," he said.

Turkey will also monitor the return of weapons given to the YPG by the U.S., he noted.

Cavusoglu and his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson will meet on March 19 in Washington and decide on the "roadmap," Cavusoglu said, talking about the outcome of a joint working group meeting held last week between the two sides.

Washington has voiced concern about the safety of U.S. troops in Manbij amid Turkey's ongoing military operation against the YPG militants in northeastern Syria that was launched on Jan. 20.

Turkey has repeatedly vowed to push its military operation from Afrin to Manbij, where about 2,000 American soldiers are currently stationed.

The U.S. troops have been fighting together with the Kurdish fighters against the terror group Islamic State.

The Turkish military operation against Kurdish fighters in Syria has strained the ties between the two NATO allies, which agreed to normalise their relations during a visit to Turkey by Tillerson last month. Enditem