Mr. Erdogan, appearing on television in combat fatigues at one point, vowed to clear Kurdish forces from all of northern Syria. There are no Americans in Afrin, but from Manbij eastward, American forces are fighting alongside the Kurds against the Islamic State. The Americans are also actively training Syrian rebel units, including the Manbij Military Council in this area. Last week, in fact, Mr. Trump and Mr. Erdogan spoke by telephone about Syria, although the two governments had dramatically different readouts of their conversation. “In Manbij we and the coalition worked together and took ISIS out,” said Shervan Derwish, the spokesman for the Manbij Military Council.

Source: International New York Times February 01, 2018 08:00 UTC