JAKARTA - Turkey wants the United States to withdraw its troops from other countries, the same region where US troops left Afghanistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in response to a CBS News question.
President Erdogan specifically named Syria and Iraq as two countries where Washington should end its military presence. According to the Turkish president, the move will promote peace in the region.
"Of course, if I had a choice, I'd want them out of Syria and Iraq. Just like the way they pulled out of Afghanistan. Because if we're going to serve peace around the world, it no longer means to stay in that part of the world. We can leave those people behind, let the administration make its own decisions," President Erdogan said as quoted by Sputnik News on September 26.
When asked by the CBS host whether he had ever raised the issue of a possible withdrawal from Syria with US President Joe Biden, President Erdogan said he had never asked POTUS about this when they met in Brussels. President Erdogan added that they were both focused on talks about Afghanistan at the time.
The United States and other NATO countries withdrew from Afghanistan in late August, following President Biden's announcement of plans to end the country's nearly 20-year war.
Despite being announced months earlier, the withdrawal was described by observers as "chaotic" because of the West's shortcomings in evacuating their nationals, as well as Afghanistan civilians who had assisted them.
However, US troops are still deployed in Iraq, despite several attempts to pull them out since the start of the US offensive against the country, and in Syria.
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Washington has never received a UN Security Council mandate or a 'request' from Damascus to send troops into the country. On the other hand, the Syrian government calls the presence of US troops on its soil and its involvement in the extraction and export of its natural resources illegal.
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