19 June 2018•Update: 20 June 2018
YOZGAT, Turkey
Turkey and the U.S. have set a three-month timetable to complete the tasks agreed in a deal on Syria's Manbij, Turkish government spokesman said Tuesday.
"We have a 90 days' timetable. [It schedules] what will be done within a week, in two weeks, in a month, and so on,” Bekir Bozdag told reporters in the central Yozgat province.
The Manbij deal focuses on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terror group from the northern Syrian city and stability in the region.
The agreement was first announced after a meeting in Washington earlier in June between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
"A timetable is set, and as part of that timetable, tasks have begun to be done step by step," Bozdag said, referring to the start of joint patrol activity in Manbij by Turkish and U.S. troops on Monday.
"While a joint work is carried out to liberate the area from the terrorists, simultaneous efforts for the administration and the security of the region are being addressed and solved," Bozdag said, adding that a new security unit would be established and the city's administration would be handed over to the local people on Manbij.
Reporting by Murat Asil and Ergun Haktaniyan:Writing by Cansu Dikme
