Turkey will hit PKK/PYD in Manbij if the group did not retreat

Turkey will not hesitate to attack the PKK/PYD in Manbij, in northern Syria, unless the group withdraws, the country’s foreign minister said Thursday according to the state-run Anadolu agency.

After the completion of military operations in al-Bab city and totally wresting control over it, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkish troops will head to the town of Manbij next. The aim is to drive off the US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, the so-called Syria Democratic Forces (SDF).

Speaking to journalists in Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu renewed calls for the new US administration not to support the Kurdish forces.

"We do not wish any of our allies to stand with terrorist groups," Cavusoglu said. "We stated earlier that Turkey will hit the YPG unless they withdraw from Manbij."

The YPG is the armed wing of terrorist group PKK/PYD in Syria, and is the dominant component of the SDF.

Earlier today, the SDF militia said it had agreed to hand over villages on the front line with Turkey-backed opposition fighters to Assad regime under an agreement with Russia.