Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said on Sunday Turkey expects United States President Donald Trump to stand on his promise, made last year in December, to full withdrawal of American military from Syria in the “near future”.
According to Sputnik news reports, Erdogan told Turkey’s TRT broadcaster: “Mr. Trump has vowed that the United States would leave the east of the Euphrates. We hope that this promise will be fulfilled in the near future. We do not want to live under threat and are ready to do everything necessary to eliminate it.”
The Turkish president noted that the war zone in the north Syria should be under control of Turkey and for that Turkey will take every possible step in order to maintain security in the region.
Erdogan has announced last year in December that Ankara was all ready to launch its military operations against the US-backed Kurdish fighters on the Euphrates River’s eastern bank, including the Manbij region of Syria, located alongside Turkish border, if the US did not withdraw its troops from there.
Later, the Turkish has said he had decided not to attack in Syria after his phone conversation with the US president on December 14, during with Trump revealed his plans to fully withdraw from Syria.