Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the United States has failed to comply with the timescale agreed for the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from northern Syrian city of Manbij, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on Friday.
As agreed by the two NATO allies in June, Turkish and U.S. forces are now carrying out patrols in Manbij to clear the area of YPG, a group that Turkey views as a terrorist organisation linked to PKK terror group which has been waging a terror campaign against Turkish state more than three decades.
But Erdoğan said YPG forces remain in Manbij, and accused the United States of not holding to commitments under the roadmap agreed in June.
"The United States certainly did not comply with the agreed calendar of the Manbij roadmap; YPG did not exit the area. The real owners of the region are not settled in yet," Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters following his recent visit to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly .
"The United States did not keep their promise here."
Turkey has been infuriated with Washington's support for the YPG/PKK terrorists and prior to the June agreement it had threatened to push on with a ground offensive against YPG/PKK in Manbij despite the U.S. troops stationed.
Before the agreement with Washington, Turkey had carried out two cross-border operations against the YPG/PKK in Syria.
Erdoğan also said that Turkey was prioritising the disposal of heavy weaponry held by "radical" rebel forces in Idlib in northwest Syria, where Russian and Turkish troops trying to enforce a new demilitarised zone.
"We attach great importance to the disposal of heavy weaponry of radical groups. The majority of burden is on our intelligence agency. The efforts are going well," Erdoğan said.
Under the plan, the rebels will be required to withdraw from Idlib by the middle of next month.
TURKEY TO TAKE STEP FOR UN REFORM
Ankara will discuss a UN reform initiative with several countries, President Erdoğan said.
"At first, it would be useful to discuss this issue with Germany, China, Russia, France and Spain which are well-esteemed countries in a narrow scope. It would be more appropriate to feel the air first and then move on. Our share is to take step on this issue," Erdoğan told media representatives on Wednesday in the U.S. ahead of his departure for Germany.
It is also important to promote the issue on written and social media, the president underlined.
In his address to the 73rd session of UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Erdoğan called for a "comprehensive reform" in the structure and functioning of the UN, particularly the Security Council.
He said the UN has carried out work and achieved considerable success over its 73-year history, adding: "However, it is also a fact that the UN moved away from meeting the expectations of humanity for peace and welfare over time."
Asked whether Turkish president had a meeting the U.S. counterpart Donal Trump, Erdoğan said: "He told me 'See you' but I didn't attend the dinner. As you know, there is a family photo in these meetings.
"During lunch, our tables were side by side. It was out of question for me to go to that table since Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was sitting at his [Trump's] table," Erdoğan said.
The president added he got a chance to discuss Syrian crisis with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
On the question whether the U.S. will make any contribution to the recent Turkey-Russia deal on Syria's northwestern Idlib province, Erdoğan said they didn't think about "what America will say" upon the deal.
On Sept. 17, Ankara and Moscow agreed to turn Idlib into a demilitarized zone between the opposition and the regime-controlled areas.
Erdoğan said Turkey has 12, Russia 10 and Iran has six observation points in Idlib.
- 'US AID CUT TO PALESTINE NOT RIGHT'
Erdoğan stated that he had a bilateral meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.
Recalling the U.S. aid cut to Palestine and the closure of Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) diplomatic mission in Washington, Erdoğan said: "These kind of acts don't fit a country with the claim of fairness, for sure."
The U.S.' unilateral revoke of the deals including Palestine can't be evaluated as "right" act, he added.
The president also reiterated Turkish support for the Palestine cause.
Last month, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced that Washington would "no longer commit funding" to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of its overall budget.
Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
