SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Turkey says US team coming to discuss Syria troops withdrawal
Ankara, Dec 24 (AFP) Dec 24, 2018
A US military delegation will visit Turkey this week to discuss the withdrawal of American ground forces from Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Monday.

"They will discuss how to coordinate (the withdrawal) with their counterparts," Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference in Ankara after US President Donald Trump's shock decision last week to order the pull-out of 2,000 troops.

The US has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Syria.

Critics of Trump's move fear that thousands of IS members could make gains in Syria, despite the US leader's claim that the group had been defeated.

"There is no question of a step backwards, vulnerability or a slowdown in the fight against Daesh (IS)," Kalin vowed, adding: "Turkey will show the same determination against Daesh... We can bring peace to this region."

He referred to Turkey's cross-border offensive launched in August 2016 against the IS in northern Syria and said Ankara would take all measures to avoid a power vacuum after the US withdrawal.

Kalin said there would be further talks between the two countries' foreign ministries and other departments including a meeting planned in Washington on January 8.

"There will be intensive traffic" between officials, he added, a day after Trump and Erdogan held a telephone conversation agreeing to coordinate the Syria pull-out.

Trump's order came as Ankara warned it would launch an operation east of the Euphrates River against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia which dominates the SDF.

Ankara says the YPG is a "terrorist offshoot" of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

Although Turkey said it would postpone the offensive, a Turkish military convoy has arrived in the Turkish border district of Elbeyli carrying howitzers and artillery batteries.

Parts of the convoy entered Syria, the private IHA news agency reported.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
SPHEREx completes first full sky infrared map of the cosmos
CoDICE instrument returns first-light particle data for IMAP mission
Top 5 High Volatility Games For 2026 Chase The Biggest Jackpots Today

24/7 Energy News Coverage
The Quantum Age will be Powered by Fusion
Physicists map axion production paths inside deuterium tritium fusion reactors
Hybrid excitons speed ultrafast energy transfer at 2D organic interface

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SDA expands Tracking Layer satellite awards and related missile defense contracts
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide SAR reconnaissance data to German military

24/7 News Coverage
Philosopher argues AI consciousness may remain unknowable
Climate driven model explores Neanderthal and modern human overlap in Iberia
Economic losses from natural disasters down by a third in 2025: Swiss Re



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.