ANKARA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish army forces have entered surrounding districts of Manbij region in Syria as part of a deal with the United States, local CNNTurk reported on Monday.
A convoy of Turkish forces, accompanied by helicopters, entered some surrounding neighborhoods of the region, said the report quoting Abdullah Halil from Free Syrian Army.
Turkish army moves with the U.S. forces in Manbij, the report said.
The People's Protection Units (YPG) will withdraw from Syria's Manbij under a roadmap agreed by Turkey and the United States in May and the security of the region will be maintained by the U.S. and Turkish forces.
Turkey regards the YPG as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and has long been urging the United States to remove the YPG from Manbij, where about 2,000 U.S. soldiers are currently deployed.
Relations between Turkey and the United States have been strained over Washington's support to the YPG, prompting fears of military clashes in Manbij between the two NATO allies.
