Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin has announced that Ankara and Washington would form a "safe zone" around Syria's Manbij if the US "keeps promises."
In an interview with the TRT Haber broadcaster, Kalin said that the deal was binding and that a change in the US Secretary of State would not change it even if it leads to a 1-2 week delay.
According to him, Ankara expects to clear Afrin of the Kurdish militants "very soon."
However, Turkey has no intention to hand over the town to the Syrian government after the military operation ends, he added.
Speaking further, the spokesman noted that the Turkish intelligence was arranging the extraction of members of al-Nusra Front terrorist group from the Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta.
"The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) is working on extracting Nusra Front militants from Syria's Eastern Ghouta," Ibrahim Kalin said, as aired on the Turkish TRT broadcaster.
The spokesman added that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was holding intensive political consultations on settling the situation in Eastern Ghouta and the issue would be discussed at the talks between foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran in Astana on Friday.
READ MORE: Turkey Urges US to Prevent YPG Redeployment From Syria's Manbij to Afrin
Later on, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged the US to withdraw from Manbij and called on Washington to prevent redeployment of the YPG from Manbij to Afrin.
US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel, however, said the US was not planning to withdraw forces from the city.
