It also said Carter had assured his Turkish counterpart of continued US support for Turkey’s efforts to clear Islamic State from its borders.
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The collaboration was first suggested by outgoing US President Barack Obama, and President Tayyip Erdogan agreed. “But at this stage we have to show our presence in the region”, he said. “Our soldiers should come together and discuss, then we will do what is necessary”, he said.
Turkey would seek no other objective around Manbij other than the retreat of the YPG forces, Isik said.
Turkey has begun laying an underground power cable to supply the Syrian town of Jarabulus with electricity before the commencement of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
Turkish forces and the Ankara-backed rebels are pressing on with the operation inside Syria, which is also targeting a Kurdish militia Ankara regards as a terror group.
Speaking to reporters on his plane back from the G20 summit in China on Monday, Erdogan said Turkey’s military was ready to join any offensive on Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital. “We do not have the chance to take a backward step”.
A US official said that while the leaders agreed to remain focused on Islamic State, there was no specific discussion of a joint operation to seize Raqqa.
Turkey sees the USA -backed YPG as a terrorist group and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), which has carried out a three-decade insurgency in southeast Turkey.
Without giving further details, he said: “What can be done will become clear after the discussions”.
Turkey is concerned that further consolidation of Kurdish influence in northern Syria could fuel separatist sentiment among its own Kurdish minority.
The diplomatic sources said that Turkey wants to keep the YPG forces away from the upcoming battles against ISIS, and therefore, Ankara is offering Washington that the Free Syrian Army replace these forces.
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Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to meet in Geneva on Thursday and Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported. It demands the ouster of “Bashar al-Assad and his clique” within six months and the installation of a “transitional governing body” that would rule the country for 18 months leading up to elections.
