ANKARA: Turkey and the US held their first joint patrol in and around the northern Syrian town of Manbij on Thursday night, about 30 km from the Turkish border, as part of a roadmap that was agreed between the two countries in early June.

State-run news agency Anadolu reported that armored military vehicles had carried out the joint patrol near the Saju River in Manbij’s north.
“As professional NATO forces, the recent rehearsals conducted by Turkish and coalition forces provide an important foundation. Our interoperability ensures our ability to work together to continue to protect the civilians of Manbij in our common goal of the enduring defeat of Daesh,” Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a statement.
“We’re fully supportive of the road map and the combined joint patrols, and I am confident they will be effective.”
Turkey and the US have conducted 68 independent, coordinated patrols since June. The patrols are expected to ease tension between regional actors and to encourage stability in the region
Last week, troops from both countries completed training for the patrols.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the recent developments in Manbij in a phone call with US President Donald Trump.
The second phase of the roadmap consists of the withdrawal of the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG militia, due for Sept. 5.
The US has a sizeable military presence in Manbij to advise Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an Arab-Kurdish force led by the YPG, which captured the town from Daesh in 2016.
Turkey considers the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the US and the EU, while the American support to the YPG has created tensions between the two NATO allies.
The long-awaited joint patrols came just a day after Turkish armed forces intensified their five-day shelling of YPG positions in Kurdish-controlled territory on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River — a tactic seen by many experts as a bid to show Turkey’s military capacity on the Turkish-Syrian border and to issue a “final warning” to Washington.
“The Turkish moves on the border have created a sense of considerable unease and consternation in Washington. The move was unexpected and unwelcome,” Aaron Stein, senior resident fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, told Arab News.
“It is unclear how the US will respond, but there was talk about canceling the joint patrols. They ultimately went ahead, but I would assume we are back at a place where the US president has to warn the Turkish president to knock it off. This is not a good place to be,” he said.
As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated on Oct. 10 during an event of Jewish Institute for National Security of America, the US is determined to keep its alliance with the YPG in Syria, contrary to what Ankara expects, and to let them have a say in any political settlement process.
“We’ve worked closely with the Syrian Kurds. They have been great partners. We are now driving to make sure that they have a seat at the table,” Pompeo said.
The Manbij Military Council is affiliated with the SDF in northern Syria. The Turkish-American roadmap for Manbij also calls for the establishment of a new local council to be formed by mainly Arab locals.
“The patrols are being conducted in the outer circle of Manbij, not in the inner zone. The aim is to control the points of entry and exit of the terror groups along Turkish border,” Ret. Brig. Gen. Naim Baburoglu told Arab News.
However, according to Baburoglu, the patrols are the least important commitment in the Turkish-American deal, and are meant to be a delaying tactic to prevent Turkey from conducting further military offensives on the eastern bank of Euphrates.
“Commitments such as the withdrawal of about 7,000 YPG militia and taking back the heavy weapons, as well as the establishment of a local management, have not been met yet because US officials announced last month that Turkish army forces will not enter inside the town of Manbij,” he said.
However, the risk of any clash between Turkey and the YPG in the region is always on the table, according to experts, because the Kurdish militia has reportedly boosted their defense system to show they will resist if the Turkish army enters the town.
Baburoglu said that in that scenario the US would support the YPG, but there would be no close contact between American and Turkish soldiers.
“I don’t expect that all YPG militia will withdraw from the region. At most, about 300 or 400 of them will leave, and the remaining part will mingle freely with the local community without giving back all their weapons,” he said.