U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the State Department in Washington D.C., U.S. on June 4, 2018. (REUTERS)
ANKARA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of Turkey and the U.S. on Monday endorsed a crucial roadmap for cooperating on resolving the issue of Syria's Manbij province, Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In their meeting in Washington, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "considered the recommendations of the Turkey-U.S. Working Group on Syria pertaining to the future of our bilateral cooperation in Syria on issues of mutual interest, to include taking steps to ensure the security and stability in Manbij," said the statement.
The two ministers endorsed a roadmap to this end and underlined their mutual commitment to its implementation, reflecting their agreement to closely follow developments on the ground, it added.
The Turkish minister earlier stated that "the Manbij plan" would stipulate the withdrawal of the People's Protection Units (YPG) from Manbij in northwestern Syria.
The YPG is a Syrian Kurdish group that Ankara regards as a terrorist organization linked with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey.
The meeting with Pompeo was "fruitful", Cavusoglu was quoted by Daily Sabah as saying after their meeting in Washington.
Turkey expected the U.S. to fulfill its responsibilities on the roadmap, he said.
The roadmap could help ease the tensions in the Turkey-U.S. ties which have been strained by the dispute in Manbij and the alleged U.S. attempt to block the delivery of the F-35 stealth fighters to Turkey.
