Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Friday said that whoever supports the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria is a threat to Turkey, adding that the US has been helping them, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The YPG is the largest armed group within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition led by the US against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Turkish authorities see the YPG as an offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey, which has also been designated as a terrorist group by the US and European Union.
Turkish and US troops began joint patrols in Manbij, situated in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate, on Nov. 1 as part of an agreement that focuses on the withdrawal of YPG militants from the city.
Çavuşoğlu told CNN Türk that there has been a delay in the Turkey-US roadmap for Manbij, which was announced in June, adding, “This should be completed by the end of the year.”