ANKARA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkey Friday urged U.S. Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey to remove military observation posts in northern Syria which aim at preventing clashes between Turkish forces and U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia.
During a meeting with Jeffrey, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar conveyed Ankara's request, urging the United States to cut ties with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
Turkey sees YPG an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
"Turkey will not allow a terror corridor on its southern border," read a statement by Turkish Defense Ministry after the meeting.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Jeffrey said the U.S. military posts near Turkish border in northern Syria aim at "less harassment fire" and ensuring security of the region including Turkey.
"That's of interest of Turkey, interest of us and people of north Syria," he said adding that these posts will "deter anybody" shooting into Turkey from across the border.
Relations between Turkey and the United States have been strained because of the support provided by Washington to the YPG.
The United States has long been complaining that tensions between Turkey and the YPG have at times slowed down progress on fighting the Islamic State (IS) in the east of Euphrates in Syria.
The U.S decision to deploy observation posts in northern of Syria along with Turkish border came after the Turkish Armed Forces fired artillery shells at YPG positions east of the Euphrates in the Kobane region of northern Syria in November.
Anadolu Agency reported that Turkish howitzers hit YPG targets in Zor Magar region along the Turkish-Syrian border line.
Turkish army launched two massive operations in northern Syria in the past two years to push YPG out of the area in west of the Euphrates, but had to stop at the river to avoid a confrontation with the U.S. soldiers there.
In a bid to calm down tensions, the United States and Turkey in June agreed to work together in Manbij, west of the Euphrates, for retreat of the YPG members after Ankara repeatedly threatened to attack the city.
The Manbij deal envisaged not only removal of YPG from the town, but also joint patrolling of the U.S. and Turkish soldiers and establishment of new local administration and military personal cleaned from YPG people.
After the meeting of Turkish-U.S. high level working group on Syria, a joint statement said both sides are committed to an accelerated and concrete progress on the Manbij roadmap by the end of the year.
They agreed to continue to work on joint planning with regard to other areas as mentioned in the Manbij roadmap.
Ankara asks Washington to take similar measures in other towns in the east of Euphrates as well, so that the YPG will be eliminated in the region.
Manbij deal is a model for Turkish-U.S. cooperation in Syria in trying to bring peace to the war-torn country, the U.S. envoy said.
"We think that there will be no final conclusion of this conflict without very close Turkish-U.S. cooperation. Manbij is a good model for that cooperation," Jeffrey noted.
"How we apply it on other places depends on which places we are looking at. Now we focus on Manbij," he said when asked if Manbij model will be applied to other towns in the east of Euphrates.
However, Turkey urges Washington for taking action soon on withdrawal of YPG fighters from other towns in the region.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday said the last paragraph of the Manbij deal says the same measures will also be applied to the other regions in east of the Euphrates.
"For stability there, first of all the terrorist groups should be eliminated," he said noting that Turkey will take necessary measures and respond again if its border is threatened by YPG's harassment fire.
Security expert Abdullah Agar expressed his doubt on the real aim of the U.S. observation posts near Turkish border -- whether to serve Turkey's security or to protect the YPG group from Turkey.
He recalled recent tension in November between the Turkish security forces and the Syrian Kurdish group.
"Immediately after the YPG had causalities, they stopped the military campaign in the middle Euphrates Basin. In the pretext of protecting Turkey, the U.S. is actually defending the YPG by these observation posts," he added.
