Turkey and the United States are already at odds over control of another town, Manbij, some 30 km (20 miles) south of the Turkish border, which was captured last month from Islamic State by a USA -backed coalition that includes the YPG.
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He said Turkey, which launched a military incursion into Syria just over two weeks ago, would seek no other objective around Manbij provided the YPG forces retreated east.
Washington says Turkish attacks on Kurdish-aligned militias damage a USA -backed coalition fighting Islamic State. The initiative, he added, came from the United States.
“We have agreed with them about where each party will be, geographically, in such a way that they can conduct their operations against [Islamic State] and not run into each other”, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a recent interview with CNN.
Turkish-backed militia drove ISIS from the border town of Jarablus, but Turkey has also been concerned with checking the advance of Kurdish forces whom it regarded as terrorists.
“Having kicked ISIS out of Jarabulus, our next goal is to help bring life back to normal in the area”, a Turkish official said.
The Turkish army and its Syrian rebel allies have secured the town but signs of Islamic State remain.
“Nobody’s going to go in there and occupy those cities except the people who already live there”.
Previously, Erdogan during the G20 summit said that Turkey and Russian Federation are holding talks to achieve a ceasefire in Syria’s Aleppo.
Turkey’s military said on Thursday it had taken control of four residential areas in northern Syria as it presses an offensive to sweep Islamic State out of a patch of border territory and prevent Kurdish militia fighters gaining ground in their wake.
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On Wednesday Ankara announced its openness to conduct a joint military operation with the United States to wrest the IS stronghold of Raqqa from its control. The two men also discussed the importance of local forces being at the centre of any Raqqa operation.
