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Don’t leave power vacuum in Syria withdrawal, Turkey to US

February 23, 2019
US Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan welcomes Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, Friday.  — Reuters
US Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan welcomes Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, Friday. — Reuters

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s defense minister told Pentagon officials there must not be a vacuum of power during the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Saturday.

A senior US administration official said on Friday Washington would leave about 400 US troops split between two Syrian regions, a reversal by President Donald Trump that could pave the way for US allies to keep troops in Syria.

“We reminded our partners that there should be no vacuum of power in any way during the withdrawal,” Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told Anadolu, describing his talks in the United States with acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

Trump had ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 US troops Syria in December after saying they had defeated Daesh (the so-called IS) militants in Syria. The abrupt decision sparked an outcry from allies and US lawmakers. But he was persuaded on Thursday that about 200 US troops would join what is expected to be a total commitment of some 800 to 1,500 troops from European allies to set up and observe a “safe zone” in northeastern Syria, the US administration official said.

Akar also said he repeated call for Kurdish YPG militia fighters, which Ankara regards as terrorists, to be removed from the “safe zone”, which Turkey wants to control.

Trump insists no U-turn

President Donald Trump insisted Friday he was not pulling an about-face on his Syria withdrawal plans.

The White House quietly dropped the news late Thursday that around 200 American “peacekeeping” soldiers would remain in northern Syria indefinitely, amid fierce criticism of Trump’s decision to withdraw America’s more than 2,000 troops there by April 30.

“I am not reversing course,” Trump said at the White House, noting that 200 soldiers was only a “very small, tiny fraction” of the overall presence.

Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham heralded the move, claiming the residual forces would somehow catalyze a bigger presence by European allies who had balked at the idea of committing troops to Syria minus an American ground presence. “This 200 will attract probably 1,000 Europeans,” Graham said in an interview with Fox News.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Robertson said the US troops would be part of a “multinational observing and monitoring force” that would be made up “primarily” of NATO allies in a northeast Syria “safe zone.”

Robertson added the US would also maintain its presence at Al-Tanaf, a desert garrison in southern Syria where some 200 US soldiers are presently based. — Agencies


February 23, 2019
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