Obama administration cheated Turkey in Syria: President Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

The administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama “failed to keep its promises” to Turkey in Syria, not following up with its claim to “leave Manbij to its rightful owners,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 24.

“There was an operation during Mr. Obama’s administration. That operation aimed to clear terrorists from Manbij. But he failed to keep up to his promise and cheated us,” Erdoğan said in a speech to neighborhood heads (muhtars) in Ankara.

Manbij is a city in the northeast of the Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, currently controlled by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“We’ve done our part but they have not. They promised they would send the terrorists in this area to the east of the Euphrates and leave Manbij to its rightful owners. But they did not keep their promise,” Erdoğan said.

“There are no Kurds [in Manbij]. Ninety-five percent of it consists of Arabs. They did the same thing in [the Syrian city of] Kobane,” he also added.