ANKARA (Reuters) - Military patrols in the northern Syrian city of Manbij have begun and Turkish forces will enter the town step by step, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in the southern province of Antalya, Cavusoglu said Manbij would be cleared of the Syrian Kurdish YPG and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants as soon as possible.

Turkey and the United States endorsed a roadmap for the withdrawal of Kurdish militants from Manbij earlier this month, and agreed to jointly secure the city.