UPDATE - 'Expat Syrians can return after Turkey-US Manbij deal'

ADDS DETAIL THROUGHOUT

By Sibel Ugurlu and Safvan Allahverdi

ANKARA / WASHINGTON - A roadmap drawn up by Turkey and the U.S. will pave the way for people forcefully displaced by YPG/PKK terrorists in Manbij, Syria to return home, Turkey’s foreign minister said Monday.

Speaking at the residence of Turkey's Ambassador to the U.S., Serdar Kilic, in Washington after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "First Turkey and the U.S. will work on details of the roadmap to rid Manbij, Syria of the YPG/PKK terror group."

He said both countries affirmed the Manbij-focused roadmap based on the recommendations of the joint working group between the two countries on Syria, adding there is a specific date and it depends on the steps taken in the field.

But it will be carried out in less than six months, according to Cavusoglu.

Urging Washington not to go off on a tangent particularly on the issue of Syria, he said the two sides need to be honest in terms of building a better relationship.

Emphasizing that the purpose of the road map is to clear Manbij from the terrorists and ensure the security and stability of the city, Cavusoglu said the road map would be implemented in three stages which would focus on the removal of YPG/PKK forces from Manbij, the removal of YPG/PKK affiliated individuals from local governing organizations, and establishing joint U.S.-Turkish patrols and a new local governing administration based on the local population.

He said the purpose of the roadmap is essentially for Washington to remain faithful to its promise given in 2016 to keep the YPG from running the governing council in Manbij, adding that it might be carried out in other regions of Syria in order to pave the way for people forcefully displaced to return home.

If the Manbij issue was resolved, it would address part of a major issue dividing Ankara and Washington. Turkey has long objected to U.S. support for the terrorist PYD/PKK, a Syrian branch of the terrorist PKK and the target of Turkey’s recent Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

About the delivery of U.S. F-35 jets to Turkey -- which some U.S. officials have tried to throw doubt on -- Cavusoglu said there is no change in the date. "[Delivery] will be on June 21 as planned," he said.

He said Turkey rejected "threatening language" from the U.S. on the issue, saying it is "not constructive".

Criticizing the U.S. for forcing Turkey not to purchase S-400 air defense systems from Russia, he recalled that Turkey had been trying to purchase Patriot air defense systems from the U.S., but the missiles have never been sold to Turkey when they were needed the most.

"This is the reason why Turkey, which is in urgent need of these weapons, has chosen to purchase them from Russia," he added.

Giving F-35 fighter jets as an example, Cavusoglu said if Washington as the worst-case scenario decides not to sell F-35s to Turkey, then no one can tell Turkey not to buy aircraft from a second country or not to produce its own.

"But we do not think we will come to this stage," he noted.

Cavusoglu also said Pompeo had told him the FBI is “seriously investigating the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) on U.S. soil" and a joint working group has been established on the extradition of Fetullah Gulen, the ringleader of the terror group.

Citing Pompeo as saying that the U.S. will consider what Turkey provides as evidence seriously, Cavusoglu said his remark was important because the previous administration could not take serious steps in these matters.

"There is no reason for the U.S. to look upon us with suspicion. We did not make a mistake in this regard. But unfortunately, the presence of FETO’s leader on U.S. soil, the support given to YPG terrorists in Syria, particularly in Manbij, have been breaches of our trust," Cavusoglu added, expressing hope that the dialogue between the ministries will be better with Pompeo as the new secretary of state.

The presence of FETO leader Gulen in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, despite Turkish extradition requests, has been a chief thorn in the side of Turkish-U.S. ties. Turkey has also decried the presence of FETO-linked schools -- a revenue stream for the group -- in both the U.S. and other countries worldwide.

FETO was behind the July 15, 2016 defeated coup in Turkey which martyred 250 people and injured some 2,200.