Turkey’s foreign minister held a phone call on Wednesday (Dec.19) with his US counterpart after Washington signaled that it would withdraw US forces from Syria, said Turkish diplomatic sources, AA reported.
The phone conversation between Mevlut Cavusoglu and Mike Pompeo came after US President Donald Trump announced that the US-led coalition has succeeded in militarily defeating ISIS, suggesting that a withdrawal of US troops was imminent.
"We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency," Trump said on Twitter.
The announcement follows reports that the US is preparing to withdraw its roughly 2,000 troops from northeastern Syria, where it has been working to defeat ISIS.
Trump had previously voiced his intent to leave Syria but faced pushback from the Pentagon's top brass and some of his top officials who had sought to maintain the US's military presence in the country until Iranian forces exited.
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