US Syria Withdrawal Must Be Planned in Cooperation With Right Partners - Erdogan

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States must closely coordinate its planned pullout from Syria with the "right partners" in order to protect itself and the Syrian people, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday in an op-ed published by the New York Times.

"President Trump made the right call to withdraw from Syria. The United States withdrawal, however, must be planned carefully and performed in cooperation with the right partners to protect the interests of the United States, the international community and the Syrian people," Erdogan wrote.

The Turkish president also argued that his country was the only one that could work with both the United States and Russia on Syria, noting that Ankara is involved in both the Russian-led Astana process and the UN-backed Geneva process for Syria.

Erdogan emphasized that Turkey remains committed to the mission to defeat the Daesh* terror group in Syria, underlining that there would be "no victory for the terrorists."

After the terrorists are defeated, Syrian territories must be governed by "popularly elected councils," Erdogan wrote, adding that councils in predominantly Kurdish regions would largely consist of representatives from the Kurdish community.

READ MORE: ‘The Die is Cast': Regional Powers Make Plans for After US Withdrawal from Syria

In December, Trump declared victory over Daesh and announced that as a result, US forces would be coming home soon. On Monday, Trump said US forces would leave Syria while at the same time continue fighting the Daesh terror group.

*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State/IS), a terrorist group banned in Russia and a wide number of other countries.