Amid hightened tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, the U.S. State Department has stated that the country did not yet have any agreements with Turkey on Manbij, northern Syria.
Nauert: "We don't have any agreements yet with the government of Turkey. We announced previously that the United States and the Turkish working group met...in Ankara on Friday of last week,"
Following a visit by former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Ankara in February, Turkey and the U.S. established a mechanism to address separate issues in working groups, including the stabilization of Manbij and to prevent any undesirable clashes.
"We're continuing to have ongoing conversations regarding Syria and other issues of mutual concern. The two sides then had outlined the contours of a road map for further cooperation, and that includes on Manbij."
Meanwhile Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are set to meet in Washington on the 4th of June.
U.S. military support for the YPG/PKK terrorist group in Manbij has strained ties between Ankara and Washington and has led to fears of military clashes between the two NATO allies, since there are roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in the city.
