Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

The militants of Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) are leaving Syria’s Manbij city, said Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He made the remarks at the meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama during the G20 summit in China, the Hurriyet newspaper reported citing a diplomatic source.

The two leaders held a 45-minute long closed-door meeting with their delegations and held a brief press conference following the meeting, marking the first time they met face-to-face since the July 15 failed coup attempt.

During the meeting, Erdogan pointed out that the Free Syrian Army units will be deployed to the territory of the liberated Syrian city.

Erdogan stressed once again that there should be no distinction between “good terrorists” and “bad” ones.

He noted that all terrorism is bad, further adding that the U.S. and Turkey must adopt a common attitude against terrorism.

"Turkey's fight against all terror organizations including Daesh and YPG will continue with determination," he said.

In turn, President Obama highlighted that Turkey should not bear the burden of refugees alone, and said that he wishes the strong partnership between Turkey and the U.S. continues.

Turkey is the largest refugee hosting country, providing shelter to over three million Syrian refugees who fled the conflict.

Moreover, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also met with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during the G20 summit in China.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the Syrian crisis, the situation in Syria’s Manbij and Jarablus, as well as fighting the “Islamic State” (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group.

On August 24 morning, the Turkish Air Force with the support of the coalition aircrafts launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo city.

The operation was carried out under the name “Shield of the Euphrates.” Jarabulus is located 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The “Islamic State” (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh), the YPG and the PYD are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.

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