Feeling betrayed by the US, Kurdish groups hand over a strategic city to the Syrian army

Tabnak – Shortly after US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull American forces out of Syria, the Syrian Kurds, feeling betrayed by Washington, turn to Damascus to secure them in face any potential Turkish invasion. In this vein, the Kurdish armed group YPG handed over Manbij city to the Syrian army.

According to the local media, the Syrian army has entered the key northern city of Manbij for the first time in six years Friday. The announcement came moments after Syria's Kurdish militia, left exposed by a US pledge to pull out its own troops, announced that it has requested the Syrian army to take over the city. Reuters reported that Syrian Troops have raised Syrian flag in Manbij.

Earlier, the Syrian Kurdish YPG troops called on the government of President Bashar al-Assad on Friday to take control of Manbij to protect the town from the threat of Turkish attacks.

The YPG, which Turkey regards as a terrorist group and has vowed to crush, said its fighters had previously withdrawn from Manbij to fight Daesh (also known as ISIS) in eastern Syria. For its part, the army said it would guarantee "full security for all Syrian citizens and others present in the area."

Meanwhile, Russia welcomed the development, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling it a positive trend. “Of course, this will help in stabilizing the situation. The enlargement of the zone under the control of government forces... is without doubt a positive trend,” he said.

State-run SANA news agency said the army raised the national flag in the city which is mainly populated by Syrian Kurds. It is not clear yet whether US troops, which had a base in Manbij, remain in place or have withdrawn.

The city was held by US-backed YPG militia which Turkey regards an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey had been sending so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants to Manbij recently, reportedly in preparation for an offensive to drive YPG fighters out of the city.

The development comes as a new round of Russia-Turkey-Iran summit on Syria will be held in Russia in early 2019, according to a Russian official. The leaders of the Astana trio (Russia, Turkey and Iran) will meet in Russia at the beginning of 2019, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters on Friday.

"The Russia-Turkey-Iran summit will be held in Russia at the beginning of next year," he said, Tass News Agency reported.

"Now it is our turn to host the summit of the guarantor countries. It is due to take place tentatively during the first week of next year that depends on the presidents’ work schedule" Bogdanov noted.

The previous top-level meeting in this format was held in Tehran on September 7.