Talks with US Secretary of State 'very successful': FM Çavuşoğlu

The crucial summit between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his American counterpart U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo concluded in Washington on Monday.

Çavuşoğlu revealed on his official Twitter account that he and his U.S. counterpart discussed the roadmap for northern Syria's Manbij and the conflict in Syria.

Progress will be made regarding U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is a front for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists in Syria, Çavuşoğlu said after talks with Pompeo in Washington.

Çavuşoğlu was quoted as saying that his talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were "very successful", noting that he expected concrete results on PKK/PYD terrorists.

Çavuşoğlu had said on Sunday that the implementation of a roadmap for withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the northern Syrian city of Manbij is expected to begin after his meeting with Mike Pompeo.

“After giving approval to Manbij [issue] in the east of the Euphrates [river] tomorrow [Monday] as two ministers, we will begin to implement it, which may be a turning point for bilateral relations,” Çavuşoğlu said at an iftar [fast-breaking] program in Washington on Sunday.

The roadmap on Manbij is expected to be announced following the meeting with Pompeo, which would focus on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terror group from the northern Syrian city and regional stability.

The foreign minister said the U.S. support for the PKK/YPG terrorist organization in Syria is one of the most important issues creating a dispute between Ankara and Washington.

"We strive for a political solution in Syria. We reject all efforts toward dividing Syria. We have been working as a main actor for the political solution in Syria with the Astana, Sochi and Geneva [peace] processes,” he said.

The PYD and its military YPG wing are Syrian branches of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged war against Turkey for more than 30 years.