Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, discussed over the phone Ankara’s future military operation in the east of Syria, Erdogan’s aide Ibrahim Kalin told reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum.

“Yes, of course”, Kalin said, when asked whether the two leaders had discussed a possible operation in Manbij.

Erdogan shared with Trump his concerns over the YPG’s growing military presence, which is supported by the United States, and he agreed with the president to coordinate military actions on the Turkish-Syrian border, Kalin added.

“So, our military has now been instructed to coordinate their efforts on the ground so that we don’t have this terrorist activity along the Turkish-Syrian border”, Kalin said.

The statement comes after Erdogan said on 14 December that Ankara was ready to launch an operation in Syria’s Manbij against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) if the United States does not withdraw them from the area. Erdogan discussed the situation in Syria with Trump on the same day.

Source: Sputnik