France says it will work with Turkey on Syria 'road map'

France and Turkey will be working in the coming weeks on a "diplomatic road map" for an end to the nearly seven-year war in Syria, President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Sunday.

The announcement came after Macron spoke by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday which discussed, in particular, Turkey's operation against the YPG terror group in Syria.

The YPG/PYD is the Syrian affiliate of the PKK which is recognised as a terror group by the US, EU and Turkey.

Macron had said last week in a newspaper interview that France would have a "real problem" with the campaign if it turned out to be an "invasion operation".

In response, President Erdogan had reassured Macron during their talk, saying Ankara had no eye on Syrian territory.

"The two presidents agreed to work on a diplomatic roadmap for Syria in the coming weeks," the Elysee Palace said.

"To that end, discussions between France and Turkey, which both hope for a political solution overseen by the UN, will increase in the coming days."

On January 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear PKK/YPG and Daesh terrorists from Afrin region and now Ankara says its troops will move to Manbij.   

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation in Afrin aims to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from oppression and cruelty of terrorists.   

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity.

On Sunday Ankara said it could expand the incursion beyond the northwestern enclave of Afrin, to the town of Manbij and possibly east of the Euphrates river if the YPG did not vacate the region.

Manbij is located at 30 kilometres south of Turkish border. The territory between the Turkish border and Manbij is controlled by the FSA.

The city is currently controlled by the YPG/PYD.

Manbij is one of the several areas that were captured from Daesh in 2016 by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a YPG-dominated ground force that was created by the USA.

During the same period, along with the Free Syrian Army, Turkey began the Operation Euphrates Shield, its first military operation in northern Syria to defeat Daesh.

The operation held strategic importance, as it took place between Manbij and Afrin and broke apart a possible PKK/YPG-controlled corridor that would have posed a threat to Turkish national security.

Former US President Barack Obama had once promised Turkey that the PKK/YPG would not take control of Manbij after defeating Daesh, and that the PKK/YPG would withdraw to the east of the Euphrates river after the fight had concluded.

But Washington failed to keep its promise there and recently the US-led coalition announced plans to set up a 30,000-strong border force composed of PKK-related YPG members, along Syria’s border with Iraq and Turkey.