Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said on Tuesday, the United States President Donald Trump had reassured him over a phone conversation that the US was in the process of withdrawing its US troops from Syria, leading to calm down tensions between the two countries – US and Turkey.
According to CBS news reports, Turkey wants the left 2,000 US forces in Syria as a part of the anti-ISIS coalition to come out that would give the Turkish authority free rein to launch offensive operations against the Kurdish militia forces in the war-torn country. But however, much of Kurds fighters are the US allies who have been very crucial fighting against Islamic State in northern Syria.
The Trump administration has also made a deal with Turkey to have guarantees first of Kurds fighters’ security in the region after complete US troops’ withdrawal from Syria.
Erdogan told his nation’s lawmakers on Tuesday, he had told Trump that the US-allied YPG Kurdish militia, “tortures the groups in Syria that do not depend on them”, and even his government has shared evidence with the White House that America’s allies are in fact, terrorists.
Though, the Trump administration hasn’t backed from its precondition that Kurds to be protected. Nor even it has officially backed away from Trump’s decision of US troops pullout from Syria.
Erdogan said Trump also had backed Turkey’s call for a Turkish enforced safe zone that would create a 20-mile distance along Turkey-Syria border.
In a tweet on Monday, Trump wrote: “Spoke w/ President Erdogan of Turkey to advise where we stand on all matters including our last two weeks of success in fighting the remnants of ISIS and 20-mile safe zone. Also spoke about economic development between the U.S. & Turkey – great potential to substantially expand!”
Spoke w/ President Erdogan of Turkey to advise where we stand on all matters including our last two weeks of success in fighting the remnants of ISIS, and 20 mile safe zone. Also spoke about economic development between the U.S. & Turkey – great potential to substantially expand!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2019
Trump confirmed his conversation with Erdogan via tweet that he had discussed defeating Islamic State and “economic development between the U.S. & Turkey – great potential to substantially expand!”