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Turkey’s Defense Ministry urges caution about reports on US withdrawal from Syria

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The Turkish Ministry of Defense has urged caution regarding media reports claiming that the United States is planning to withdraw its troops from war-torn Syria.

The ministry released a statement on Thursday saying that the reports should be approached with caution before an official statement is made by the US.

“We are closely following all developments in the fields of defense and security in our region,” said the ministry.

A report published in Foreign Policy on Wednesday said the Biden administration is reconsidering its military priorities in the region in the wake of increased tensions due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. “… the White House is no longer invested in sustaining a mission that it perceives as unnecessary,” the report said, quoting four sources within the defense and state departments.

An abrupt US withdrawal in restive Syria is feared to inject new life to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group, which has been weakened but is seeking a resurgence.

The US has 900 troops in Syria and allies with local partner the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurds’ de facto army in the area, in the fight against ISIL.

Turkey considers the Kurdish militant groups in Syria such as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to be an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community.

The YPG forms an integral part of the SDF that spearheaded the battle to dislodge Islamic State group militants from the region in 2019.

Turkey has intensified its cross-border airstrikes against Kurdish targets in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq in retaliation for the killing of more than 20 of its soldiers in PKK attacks in northern Iraq over the past two months.

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