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Turkey says Kurdish militants leaving Syria's Manbij will be disarmed

Turkey says Kurdish militants leaving Syria's Manbij will be disarmed

June 05, 2018 | 01:39 PM
Turkish army tanks gather close to the Syrian border at Hassa, in Hatay province

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia will be stripped of their weapons when withdrawing from the northern Syrian city of Manbij as part of a roadmap agreed with the United States, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.Speaking to reporters in Turkey's southern province of Antalya, Cavusoglu said joint work on the roadmap, which he endorsed with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo in Washington on Monday, will begin in 10 days and be carried out within six months. He said in future the model should also be applied to Syria's Raqqa, Kobani and other areas controlled by the YPG.The United States did not promise to declare the YPG a terrorist organisation, Cavusoglu said. He also said that Turkey's efforts in Manbij with the United States were not an alternative to working with Russia in Syria. 

June 05, 2018 | 01:39 PM