Is the conflict of Turkish and American troops close: Erdogan announced the entry into Afrin and the penetration of Manbij

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that Turkish forces have surrounded Afrin in the north of Syria and that they will enter that city at any moment, reports Tanjug.

According to him, Afrin is not the only goal in the fight against the Kurds, as he also announced a breakthrough to the east towards Manbij, where American troops are stationed.

State media in Turkey announced that on Thursday, Turkish forces and their allies among the Syrian rebels captured the city of Jinderes, thus bringing under control one of the largest settlements in the Afrin region.

Reuters reports that Erdogan, in a televised address from Ankara, said that Turkey's armed forces would continue to advance after operations in Afrin and Manbij in Syria to "clean up" Kurdish fighters from positions along the entire Turkish-Syrian border.

Erdogan is reported to have threatened that, as part of the operation launched in January this year with the aim of capturing Afrin, Turkish forces will continue east towards Manbij, where the People's Protection Units (YPG) of the Syrian Kurds are deployed, which, according to according to Reuters, could bring Turkish forces into conflict with American troops stationed in that Syrian city.

It is recalled that on Thursday the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that the Turkish forces will end the offensive in Afrin by May, and then together with the authorities from Baghdad, after the Iraqi parliamentary elections, they will launch a joint offensive against the Kurdish extremists in Iraq.

The commander of the Central Command of the US Armed Forces, General Joseph Votel, said at the end of January that American troops will not withdraw from Manbij.