Turkey vows action should YPG/PKK terrorists not leave Syria's Manbij

Turkey will take initiative should terrorist PKK-linked People's Protection Units (YPG) not leave Syria's Manbij, a statement released upon the meeting of National Security Council (MGK) reiterated late Wednesday.

The meeting was chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and lasted for four hours and 20 minutes.

The statement also added that it would be for the good of humanity to know that the YPG is in cooperation with Daesh terrorists.

The council also went on to say in the statement that Iraqi government is expected to counter PKK activities and otherwise Turkey will take steps to stop terrorists on Iraqi soil.

The statement also touched upon the tensions in the Aegean and Cyprus.

Manbij sits on the west bank of the Euphrates. The U.S. had promised Turkey that the YPG would withdraw to the east of the river during former President Barack Obama's terms, but the promise has not yet come to a realization, stirring disagreements between Ankara and Washington.

In addition, the U.S. under President Donald Trump has continued to support the group militarily. Ankara considers the YPG to be a terrorist organization, but the U.S., despite identifying the PKK as a terror group, does not extend the classification to the terror group's Syrian branch. Washington has been supplying the YPG with truckloads of weapons and military equipment, seeing the group, under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as its most effective partner in the fight against Daesh.