Turkey says it will patrol in northern Syria with US forces

ISTANBUL – Turkey will soon conduct joint patrols with US forces in the strategic city of Manbij in northern Syria, formerly home of the Islamic State group, a senior Turkish official said Friday.

The announcement came as the Turkish Defense Ministry said Friday that the borders of the Idlib demilitarized zone had been determined in a meeting with their Russian counterparts.

The agreement reached this week between Russia and Turkey to create a demilitarized zone around the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib to separate government forces from rebels has offended the last bastion of the opposition.

The Syrian government and opposition groups supported by Turkey welcomed the Russian-Turkish agreement, which calls for the creation of the demilitarized zone in mid-October. Jihadist groups, including Al Qaeda-linked fighters, rejected the agreement saying they would not withdraw from the demilitarized zone.

Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for the Turkish presidency, said the Turkish armed forces and intelligence services were coordinating with their Russian counterparts to determine how to eliminate terrorist groups from the demilitarized zone or "pacify" them.

He said that all necessary measures would be taken to ensure that no terrorist element remains in the area or near the Turkish border whether by persuasion, pacification or other methods. Kalin added that the goal was to protect civilians in moderate opposition Idlib to make sure they are part of the political process of resolving the Syrian crisis.

In Geneva, the Commission of Inquiry on Syria welcomed the agreement reached between Russia and Turkey, adding: "We strongly call for immediate and unhindered humanitarian access and the provision of relief to the country. civilian population of Idlib.

In Idlib, residents demonstrated in the streets during anti-government protests in rebel-held towns and villages.

In the city of Ariha, one of the largest in Idlib, hundreds of people gathered in the main square, carrying opposition flags and chanting: "People want to overthrow the regime. "

Similar demonstrations took place in the cities of Maaret al-Numan and Azaz, as well as in the provincial capital, also called Idlib.

Manbij's patrols are part of a "road map" that Ankara and Washington approved in June to defuse tensions following Turkish demands for withdrawal of a US-backed Kurdish militia and released from the ISE in 2016.

Kalin, the spokesman for the presidency, said that "joint training and joint patrols will start very soon" in Manbij.

Turkey is trying to find a fragile balance in Syria with Washington and Moscow to promote its interests, mainly to withdraw US-backed Kurdish forces from its borders and maintain Syria's moderate opposition to Idlib.

Manbij was a major blocking point in the tense relations between the two NATO allies. Ankara considers Kurdish Syrian militias backed by the United States, the People's Protection Units (YPG), a terrorist group linked to a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey.

Kalin said that US support for Kurdish forces remained "a serious concern".

In July, the Manbij Military Council, which administers the city, said that the units of the YPGs once stationed on site had completed their withdrawal. The Turkish Foreign Ministry described the reports of alleged withdrawal as exaggerated and said they did not "reflect the truth".

Ebrahim Ebrahim, a Kurdish official based in Europe, said the YPGs were not present in the city, adding that even the YPG councilors who were in Manbij withdrew a few months ago. He said that only the Manbij Military Council is the only authority currently present in the city.

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Associated Press reporters Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

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