The American withdrawal has been criticized by US lawmakers, including some of Trump's fellow Republicans, as a betrayal of Kurdish allies who for years have helped the United States fight the Islamic State. "There has been no decision with regard to numbers or anything like that".
Under fire from critics who have accused him of betraying the Kurds who fought alongside US forces against ISIS in northern Syria, President Trump defended his decision Monday to pull troops from the region.
Cavusoglu said Turkey is carrying out Operation Peace Spring to eliminate the YPG/PKK threat to Turkey's national security. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.
"The big thing for me is the oil fields", he said.
The bulk of American troops in Syria are pulling out after US President Donald Trump ordered a withdrawal. He said the USA is using overhead surveillance to try to monitor the recently negotiated cease-fire "as best we can".
Stressing that Turkey would enjoy YPG/PKK's withdrawal from the safe-zone territory, Erdoğan said Ankara would take the safe-zone area under protection, adding: "We studied well, all projects are ready". "And I hope that they are going to watch over ISIS, because again, most of it is not in the safe zone, as we call it".
Despite President Trump's earlier announcements that ISIS is defeated and that he is bringing the troops home rather than being entangled in "endless wars", the US forces are not heading immediately for home. The fight in Syria against IS, once spearheaded by American allied Syrian Kurds who have been cast aside by Trump, will be undertaken by USA forces, possibly from neighboring Iraq.
Esper did not rule out the idea that United States forces would conduct counterterrorism missions from Iraq into Syria. But he told reporters traveling with him that those details will be worked out over time. USA soldiers are not in combat or ceasefire zone.
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled cities caught up in the fighting, and many groups fear a humanitarian disaster, particularly as images emerged of apparent abuse and summary executions by Turkish forces.
Trump laments G-7 move from his Doral resort after bipartisan pushback
Mulvaney reportedly told Trump that almost everyone in attendance agreed he should pick a different spot. After Trump made a similar claim in August, Forbes wrote "Trump is not losing $3 billion to $5 billion".
Cavusoglu renewed warnings that his country will resume its military offensive in northeast Syria if Kurdish fighters don't vacate the region before the cease-fire is set to end Tuesday evening.
"I trusted them with my life", said Giaconia, who now lives in Herndon, Virginia, after retiring from the Army with 20 years of service.
Watch above, via Fox News.
FILE - Fire and smoke rise from the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, Oct. 18, 2019.
There has been widespread criticism of President Trump's decision two weeks ago to pull troops from northeast Syria, which cleared the way for Turkey to assault the Kurds, key allies with the U.S.in the fight against ISIS. But Trump said the US had no stake in Turkey's offensive against the Kurdish fighters, which Ankara considers as allies with Kurdish separatists fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for the last three decades.
A senior US official confirmed to ABC News that an idea being discussed at the Pentagon is keeping a mixture of USA troops and European partners close to the oil fields so that the fields do not become a target for the Syrian regime and their Russian military backers.
The U.S. has more than 5,000 American forces in Iraq, under an agreement between the two countries. Some of them could go to Iraq. The number of American forces in Iraq has remained small due to political sensitivities in the country, after years of what some Iraqis consider United States occupation during the war that began in 2003.
I had a discussion last week with my French counterpart, and I had a conversation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation secretary general.
"We will take up this process with Mr Putin and after that we will take the necessary steps" in northeastern Syria, Mr. Erdogan told a forum in Istanbul hosted by broadcaster TRT World on Monday, without elaborating. Over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation to Jordan and then to Afghanistan, where she and other lawmakers highlighted their disagreement with Trump's Syria policy.
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