Politics

Reports of Kurdish YPG withdrawing from Manbij ‘exaggerated’: Turkey

Reports of a complete withdrawal by the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters from the Syrian city of Manbij are exaggerated, a source from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Kurdistan 24 2018/07/16 09:17

middle east Turkey YPG Syria Rojava Manbij PYD

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Reports of a complete withdrawal by the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters from the Syrian city of Manbij are exaggerated, a source from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Last month, Ankara and Washington DC reached an agreement over Manbij in northern Syria, after months of disagreement over the fate of the Kurdish-held city.

The deal reportedly agreed to have the YPG pull out its fighters from Manbij so that Turkish and US forces, instead, would manage the security and stability of the area.

The authorities currently controlling Manbij stated the last of the Kurdish fighters had left the city on Sunday after finishing their training mission. The Manbij Military Council (MMC) has repeatedly claimed in the past that there were no YPG fighters in the city, only military trainers.

“We find reports that the PYD/YPG have completely withdrawn from Manbij to be exaggerated. The process is still continuing,” the source from Turkish Foreign Ministry told Reuters.

“Withdrawal from the checkpoints on the patrol route is ongoing. Joint patrol preparations are continuing. Therefore, at this stage, reports that PYD/YPG have completely withdrawn from Manbij do not reflect the truth.”

Ankara views the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its military wing, the YPG, and the YPJ, as a ‘terrorist’ group and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group fighting a decades-long insurgency against the government in Turkey.

Editing by Nadia Riva