Turkish FM predicts positive steps on US troop withdrawal from Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that the US administration led by the Republican party representative may move forward with the withdrawal of its troops from Syria.

"In fact, the presence of 800 soldiers in Syria doesn't provide much benefit to the US. On the contrary, their presence in the region only hinders US military operations. Any actions against Iranian militias or Iran itself end up targeting the US soldiers in Syria and Iraq," he said, Caliber.Az reports via Turkish media.

"They are effectively hostages there, and this constantly creates escalation. The Democrats in the US faced difficulties when trying to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and didn't want to experience the same situation in Syria. Now, the Republicans are in power. They will have the opportunity to implement this plan [to withdraw troops]. My assessment is that positive steps could be taken on this issue," Fidan noted.  

He reminded that during the first term of then-president-elect Donald Trump's administration, they attempted to withdraw troops from Syria but faced opposition from military officials.  

"The issue of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan was also on the Republicans' agenda during that period, but the responsibility for addressing it shifted to the Democrats. However, they were unable to carry out the withdrawal properly, which led to significant political costs," Fidan added.

In February, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that the US does not plan to withdraw troops from Syria. 

The administration of current US President Joe Biden believes it is essential to continue the fight against terrorism in the country due to Islamic State (a group banned in Russia). Earlier, the US military base in Syria was targeted by rocket fire.

By Naila Huseynova