Turkey will not leave Syria until Syrian people hold election

“Whenever the Syrian people hold an election, we will leave Syria to its owners after they hold their elections,” Erdogan said at in TRT World Forum in Istanbul.

On Turkish troops’ presence in Syria, Erdogan said: “The people of Syrian invited us there. ‘Come here to save us,’ they said.” 

Erdogan also said on Thursday that Turkey is not experiencing difficulty in conducting talks with radical groups in Idlib.

"Idlib became a refuge for those fleeing bombardment in Aleppo and other parts of Syria. They went to Idlib, which became a host to over 3.5 million people. As Idlib is at Turkey’s border, those fleeing would flee to Turkey, so we took steps to stop the bombardment," he said.

Last month, in a summit in Sochi, Erdogan and Putin agreed to create a demilitarized zone with a depth of 15-20 km, from which radical groups will withdraw by Oct. 15.