Trump says Erdoğan assures 'will eradicate' any ISIL left in Syria
WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump has said his Turkish counterpart assured him that any remaining ISIL fighters in Syria will be eliminated, after Trump abruptly ordered US troops in Syria to leave.
"President @RT_Erdoğan of Turkey has very strongly informed me that he will eradicate whatever is left of ISIS in Syria," Trump said in a tweet around midnight Dec. 23, using another acronym for the jihadist group.
Trump appeared to be elaborating on a phone call he had earlier on Dec. 23 with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
They discussed Trump’s withdrawal of the US troops which were assisting in the multinational fight against ISIL, and whose departure has shocked global partners and American politicians alike.
"Our troops are coming home!" Trump said in his late-Sunday tweet.
Meanwhile, the order to withdraw American troops from Syria has been signed, the US military said Dec. 23, after Trump and his Turkish counterpart agreed to prevent a power vacuum in the wake of the controversial move.
"The executive order for Syria has been signed," a US military spokesperson told AFP when asked about the withdrawal order, without providing further details.
Trump abruptly ordered withdrawal after Erdoğan asked him why US remains in Syria: Report
