With the United States and Turkey agreeing on a road map for settling a longstanding dispute in the contested Syrian city of Manbij, experts warn that Pentagon-backed Kurdish groups could get boxed out.
Following a meeting today between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Washington, the State Department issued a joint statement saying that both sides planned on “taking steps to ensure the security and stability” in the one-time Islamic State (IS) bastion west of the Euphrates River. The statement offered no specifics, but a Turkish government spokesman said today’s meeting included an agreement on a timetable for withdrawing US-allied Kurds from Manbij, a sticking point that has strained ties with Washington.