Washington: Manbij roadmap unaffected by row with Turkey

An ongoing row between Turkey and the US has not affected a bilateral agreement about the northern Syrian city of Manbij, the State Department’s acting Middle East chief said Friday (August 17).

Addressing reporters on a conference call on Syria, David Satterfield said "there has been no impact" on the plan from the spike in tensions, AA reported.

"The proceeding upon the Manbij roadmap by all parties involved has been smooth and extremely encouraging. There has been no consequence or impact that we can discern of the other bilateral issues in play here," Satterfield said.

Relations between the NATO allies have soured in recent weeks following Washington’s imposition of sanctions on Turkish officials over the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is under house arrest in Turkey.

President Donald Trump last week ramped up his attack on Turkey by doubling US tariffs on Turkish aluminum and steel imports.

On Wednesday, in retaliation, Turkey increased tariffs on several US-origin products, including alcohol and tobacco products and cars.

The Manbij deal between Turkey and the US focuses on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG group from the city in order to stabilize the region.