Turkey criticizes US for not sticking to Manbij deal

Turkey lashed out at the U.S. on Wednesday for dragging its feet on the implementation of the road map in northern Syria's Manbij.

The road map foresees clearing the PKK's Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG), from the city.

Speaking at a press briefing after a cabinet meeting, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın pointed out that there are always postponements of efforts to execute the deal and the U.S. always has an excuse for it.

"The stalling tactic [of the U.S] has become a growing problem for Turkey. We want to put an end to this," he said.

The Manbij patrols are part of the road map inked by Ankara and Washington in June to establish security and stability in the city. The deal envisages the withdrawal of the YPG, which controls the city, as well as joint patrols by the military of both countries.Kalın underscored that the deal should serve to ensure security in Manbij and the return of its people as soon as possible.

Turkey and the U.S. have long been at odds due to the latter's military support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the YPG, under the pretext of fighting against Daesh.

The U.S. has given truckloads of military supplies, including radar systems to the YPG, despite Ankara's warnings that the group is organically linked to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Turkey and the European Union.

Ankara says the weapons are ultimately transferred to the PKK and used against Turkey.

In its 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including women and children. In relation to the issue, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday, "The job is being delayed. We are not at an ideal point. The agreement we had reached is not being implemented in the right direction."

YPG revives autonomy plansInstead of leaving Manbij, the U.S-backed YPG forces have actually tightened its grip on the areas under its control and have carved out autonomous cantons since the onset of the Syrian conflict as the authority of the Bashar Assad regime has weakened.

The terrorist organization recently ramped up efforts to form self-rule in northeastern Syria with the help of the U.S.

The General Council of Self-Administration in Northern and Eastern Syria, a YPG-linked administration formed earlier September, reportedly announced Tuesday the establishment of nine committees that are equivalent to ministries in the areas taken from Daesh. Local Administrations, Economy and Agriculture, Finance, Culture-Art, Health and Energy, Social Works, and Women committees were established in the wake of a meeting held in Ayn Issa.

The new administration also aims to govern the areas it already holds single-handedly. It also seeks to expand its semi-autonomous rule into Afrin.

Although Fraid Ati, co-chair of the General Council, indicated earlier this week that the committees do not resemble a sovereign governmental system in his commentary to Russian-based newspaper Sputnik. However, Riad Darar, another YPG official, had made contrary remarks last month by saying that the new administration will "practice a form of governance."

With efforts to form local administrations stepping up, YPG continues to hold talks with the Assad regime in a bid to convince it to recognize an autonomous administration in the North and East of Syria, similar to the one in Iraq.

The YPG's ultimate aim is to establish an autonomous region in northern Syria by connecting the northwestern Afrin canton to the Kobani and Jazeera regions in the northeast.

To hamper its autonomy plans, Turkey previously launched Operation Olive Branch in the SDF-controlled Afrin district last January and Operation Euphrates Shield near the Syria-Turkey border.

Most recently, Erdoğan vowed to expand the operation further east and possibly to Manbij, where U.S. forces are positioned, if the YPG did not retreat from those areas.