'US not keeping promises on Syria due to PKK engagement'

By Sibel Morrow

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish foreign minister on Tuesday accused the U.S. of not keeping its promises in northern Syria due to its engagement with the PKK/YPG terror groups.

Mevlut Cavusoglu's remarks came at a joint press conference with his visiting Montenegrin counterpart Srdjan Darmanovic.

Cavusoglu described the U.S. position in the east of Euphrates River as "cosmetic".

"The steps taken or said to have been taken are cosmetic steps."

Turkey and the U.S. military personnel Sunday completed the first joint ground patrol for the formation of a safe zone east of Euphrates in northern Syria.

The patrol was backed by unmanned air vehicles and helicopters.

On Aug. 7, Turkish and U.S. military officials agreed to set up a safe zone in northern Syria and develop a peace corridor to facilitate the movement of displaced Syrians who want to return home. They also agreed to establish a joint operations center.

The agreement also envisaged setting up necessary security measures to address Turkey's security concerns, including clearing the zone of the terrorist YPG/PKK, a group the U.S. has sometimes been allied with, over Turkey’s objections.

The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of terror group PKK, which has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people in Turkey, including many children, women and infants, for more than 30 years.

Syria has just emerged from a devastating civil war that began in 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, according to UN figures.