ANKARA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump have discussed bilateral and regional issues over the phone, Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Thursday.
Kalin refused to disclose details about the phone call, but the two leaders were believed to have discussed the Turkish military operation inside Syria.
It marked the third time that the two presidents have spoken by phone since November 2017 and it has been two months since their last phone call.
The U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, People's Protection Units (YPG), in Manbij has been one of the most debated topic between the U.S. and Turkey.
Turkish troops are poised to advance toward other Kurdish-controlled regions in northern Syria, including Manbij, after capturing the city of Afrin last week.
To avoid possible military conflict between the two NATO allies, Washington and Ankara have talked about the fate of Manbij where U.S. troops are deployed together with YPG soldiers to fight the terror group Islamic State.
The two sides reportedly have reached an understanding on monitoring the pullout of YPG forces from Manbij and jointly providing security for the city in future.
The Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army fighters took control of the Kurdish city of Afrin on Sunday, as part of Operation Olive Branch, which was launched by Turkey in northeastern Syria on Jan. 20.
Ankara has urged the U.S. to withdraw the YPG forces from east of the Euphrates and Manbij and to stop supporting the group militarily.
