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Turkish-US Syria talks set to resume amid heightened tensions

Turkish diplomats will meet in Washington tomorrow, hoping to build on what Ankara has said are US pledges to push Syrian Kurdish fighters out of Manbij in northern Syria.
A rebel fighter fires a mortar shell towards Syrian army soldiers, west of Manbij city, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC1BFF190D80

Turkish and US officials were expected to resume talks on Syria in Washington tomorrow in an effort to ease tensions over Syria amid repeated warnings from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to expand operations against a Syrian Kurdish militia allied with the United States.

Turkish officials aired cautious optimism that its delegation, led by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Umit Yalcin, would come away with enough to pave the way for a visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Washington soon after to finalize a deal on Manbij.

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