Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the United States has failed to comply with the timescale agreed for the withdrawal of People’s Protection Units (YPG) terror group from northern Syrian city of Manbij.
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.
The YPG is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
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," Erdoğan told 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 terror organization and prior to the June agreement it had threatened to push on with a ground offensive against YPG in Manbij despite the U.S. troops stationed.
Before the agreement with Washington, Turkey had carried out two cross-border operations against the YPG in Syria.
Erdoğan also said that Turkey was prioritising the disposal of heavy weaponry held by "radical" opposition 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 opposition will be required to withdraw from Idlib by the middle of next month.
