Trump considers pulling US troops from Syria: Turkish FM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday commented on the Khashoggi case, the US' military presence in Syria, and a possible extradition of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

According to the Turkish Foreign Minister, Washington is considering pulling troops out of Syria. The US is yet to comment on the statement.

"President [Donald] Trump, I think, is now considering leaving Syria once again," Cavusoglu said at the Doha Forum.

Ankara has expressed concerns over US support for the Kurdish militia and repeatedly accused Washington of failing to fulfil its promises regarding the YPG's withdrawal from Manbij.

The day before, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was ready to launch an operation in the northern Syrian city of Manbij against the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units, if the United States does not withdraw the Kurdish militia from the area.

Earlier this year, Trump was already planning to withdraw US troops from Syria, saying that "it was time for US troops to come home from Syria… to bring our troops back home".

However, shortly after talks with his military advisers, Trump changed his position on the issue. Commenting on the change of plans, former US UN envoy Nikki Haley stated that the president "listened to his general completely" on the Syrian issue, "because they don't want ISIS [Daesh*] to come back."

While both Turkey and the US have been allies in the US-led coalition's fight against Daesh, the sides have had several disagreements over Washington's support to Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Ankara opposes the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) — the backbone of the SDF — as it considers the group to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which outlawed in Turkey as a terrorist organisation.

Commenting on the YPG's fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, Cavusoglu suggested that this assault might be an attempt to take control of territories in the two countries.

"When it comes to YPG/PKK, our Western friends are supporting them. Why? They have one pretext that YPG is fighting Daesh. Maybe, in certain areas, yes, but the question is why they have been fighting Daesh? Just because they hate the ideology or to gain more territories in both countries [Iraq, Syria]? I think the answer is the second one," Cavusoglu asked, adding that the rest of the world chose not to face the truth.