Baladi News - Journals
Ankara will take on the fight against the ISIS terrorist group in Syria after the United States announced its troop withdrawal from the country, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday.
In a speech in Istanbul, he said Turkey would mobilize to fight remaining ISIS forces in Syria and temporarily delay plans to attack Kurdish fighters in the northeast of Syria - shifts both precipitated by the American decision to withdraw.
“We will be working on our operational plans to eliminate ISIS elements, which are said to remain intact in Syria, in line with our conversation with President Trump,” he added.
The Turkish president had announced plans last week to start an operation east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to oust the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the area that it largely controls. This week, he said the campaign could come at any moment. But on Friday, he cited the talk with Trump as a reason to wait.
“Our phone call with President Trump, along with contacts between our diplomats and security officials and statements by the United States, have led us to wait a little longer,” he said.
“We have postponed our military operation against the east of the Euphrates river until we see on the ground the result of America’s decision to withdraw from Syria.”
Erdogan said, however, that this was not an “open-ended waiting period” and that, due to past “negative experiences”, Ankara welcomed the United States’ statements with an equal amount of pleasure and caution.
Erdogan welcomed Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria, but said he remained "cautious" because of "past negative experiences", referring to Ankara's continued disappointment over US support for the YPG.
Source: Asharq Alawsat.