With the departure of Rex Tillerson from the US Department of State, Ankara lost an ally who pursued to find common ground between the two countries in Syria. The Turkish Army’s control over Afrin will now weigh on talks expected between Washington and Ankara in the upcoming hours. Those talks could further escalate existing knots related to a Turkish-US agreement over the future of Manbij and a memorandum of military cooperation between the two sides in northern Syria. Tillerson visited Ankara last month and agreed with Turkish officials on establishing joint committees capable of solving disputed issues between the two sides, particularly those related to the US support of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the decline of trust between them. However, Tillerson’s visit did not help lessen the gap built between Ankara and Washington following the latest developments in northern Syria. Ankara announced its intention to enter Manbij and east the Euphrates after the Turkish Army and Syrian opposition factions controlled the city of Afrin two days ago. According to some reports, the US had asked Turkey to operate step-by-step in Syria by allowing Turkish members to join US patrols near Manbij before increasing such cooperation to allow the withdrawal of YPG members from the city to east the Euphrates. However, Ankara asked that YPG members withdraw from Manbij to east the Euphrates after handing over the city to the Arabs, and to place areas along the Turkish border under the control of Arab factions. In Washington, officials said Ankara hastened its announcement of reaching a deal on Manbij. An expert said that Turkey aims to “embarrass Washington and to exert pressure on Kurds.” He said both sides would discuss those issues in their upcoming meeting. Turkish Foreign Ministry undersecretary Ümit Yalçın and his US counterpart will meet in the coming days, after the departing Tillerson has delegated his duties to his deputy.