Trump administration gave a gift to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ahead of the upcoming elections on June 24 by agreeing on a roadmap for the northern Syrian town of Manbij, a CIA-linked Middle East expert said.
"I think the Manbij issue was important to Erdoğan for the elections. In a way, United States gave him a gift. So this is one thing he wanted. He finally got it,' Henri Barkey said on June 5, during a panel organised by the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
The Manbij roadmap was announced after a meeting in Washington on June 4 between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The deal focuses on the withdrawal of the Kurdish YPG militants from the northern Syrian city. The YPG is expected to retreat to the east of the Euphrates River, meeting a long-standing demand by Ankara.
Turkish authorities issued an arrest warrant for the Barkey over charges of "plotting July 15 coup attempt". Barkey coordinated the meeting in Splendid Hotel at Büyükada island off İstanbul just before the 2016's failed coup attempt.
Barkey said both the Turkish Embassy in Washington and the Turkish Foreign Ministry undersecretary were aware of the meeting. He is a CIA-linked expert on the Middle East and a theorist of "moderate Islamism".
