There may be no need to carry out an operation in the terrorist PKK-linked People's Protection Units (YPG)-held city of Manbij if the U.S. keeps its promises about the withdrawal of the terrorist group, Deputy Prime Minister Fikri Işık said Monday.

Speaking at a live broadcast on NTV, Işık said that Turkey will not have to carry out an operation to clear the YPG terrorists from the Syrian city if the U.S. fulfills its pledges.

"They made hundreds of promises, both during my term as the defense minister and during the Obama administration," Işık said, adding that those promises were officially made and are all recorded.

The deputy prime minister noted that relations between the two countries will improve if the U.S. keeps its promise.

"If not, Turkey will have to do whatever is necessary," Işık said.

The U.S. support to the YPG, the Syrian affiliate of the PKK terrorist organization, has harmed ties with Turkey, leading to a loss of trust in Washington by Ankara.

The U.S. had promised Turkey that the YPG would withdraw to the west of the Euphrates 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 that U.S. does not and it has been supplying the group with truckloads of weapons and military equipment. Washington sees the YPG, under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as its most effective partner in the fight against Daesh.

Turkey sees the YPG presence in northern Syria as a threat to its national security and has vowed to clear it from the region. On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to clear the YPG from Afrin and has said that after Afrin, it will expand the operation to areas east of the Euphrates with Manbij as the first area for an incursion.