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Turkey has proposed to the United States that Kurdish YPG fighters withdraw to east of the Euphrates river in Syria and that Turkish and U.S. troops be stationed together in the country's Manbij area, a Turkish official said Friday.
The proposal could mark a breakthrough in efforts to overcome the NATO allies' stark differences over Syria policy. Relations have recently neared a breaking point over U.S. support for the YPG militia, seen as terrorists by Turkey.
The official, who declined to be identified because the information had not been made public, said the United States was considering the proposal, which was made to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during his two-day visit to Ankara.
Also Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday the two countries have decided to "establish mechanisms" to normalize relations between them.
Tillerson arrived in Turkey Thursday for two days of what officials have said would likely be uncomfortable discussions between the allies.
Turkey launched an air and ground assault last month in Syria's northwest Afrin region to drive the YPG from the area south of its border. Ankara considers the YPG to be an arm of the PKK, a banned Kurdish group that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey.
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