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Syrian opposition has high hopes for US-Turkish road map for Manbij

The US-Turkish road map for Manbij has entered the second of three phases, leading some to believe it might spare the area further bloodshed.
Vehicles of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group patrol the town of Rmelane in Syria's Hasakeh province on June 5, 2018. - The leading Syrian Kurdish militia said it would withdraw from Manbij, easing fears of a direct clash between NATO allies Washington and Ankara over the strategic northern town. Manbij is a Sunni Arab-majority town that lies just 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of the Turkish border, and where US and French troops belonging to the Western coalition against IS are station

ALEPPO, Syria — The Turkish army started the second round of patrols in Manbij, in the northeastern Aleppo countryside, on June 20, two days after implementation of phase 2 of a US-Turkish road map for the city. The United States and Turkey had agreed on June 4 to a plan to jointly manage security and stability in three phases in Manbij, which is under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

According to the US-Turkish road map, the SDF's Manbij Military Council, established in April 2016 after the expulsion of Islamic State (IS) fighters, would remain in place on the condition that all members of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the SDF, leave the council. Turkey considers the YPG to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey and continues its insurgency against Ankara for Kurdish rights.

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