While negotiations between the US and Turkiye continue on Manbij, military activities increase in the region. US forces are having a military concentration in the Manbij region, west of the Euphrates.
According to reports from the region, the US transported a large number of armored vehicles and work machines with 300 soldiers to the front line of the Euphrates Shield Operation Area, located in the western part of the Manbij district under the control of the YPG/PKK.
Col. Thomas F. Veale, a U.S. military spokesperson and public affairs director for the global coalition, who said the recent deployment was "a protection measure to ensure the safety of coalition troops" in the area, confirmed the increase in special operations troops in the northern Syrian city. "Coalition forces are establishing a joint coordination mechanism for operations there, through the coalition's official relationship with the Manbij Military Council," Veale said.
The National Security Council, headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the week, announced that Ankara would act if the PKK/YPG were not immediately withdrawn from the region. In the paper, "The terrorists in Manbij should be removed from the area as soon as possible, otherwise, Turkiye will not hesitate to initiate as in other regions," the statement read after the Turkish National Security Council meeting. (ILKHA)