US To Withdraw Troops From Syria-Turkey Border

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said U.S. troops have started withdrawing from Syria after a phone call with President Donald Trump and said he hopes to resolve issue of F-35 Jets with the U.S. during his upcoming visit to Washington, according to Reuters.

Turkey's Erdogan is hoping to visit Trump in the first half of November.

It is estimated the U.S. has hundreds of troops in north-eastern Syria and is starting to withdraw them from border areas. The U.S is stepping aside for an imminent Turkish operation against Kurdish-led forces within Syria that have until now been a key U.S. ally, the BBC reported.

So far the Kurdish militias have played a role in defeating the Islamic State group, but Turkey regards them as terrorists. The BBC said the main Kurdish-led force in Syria described the surprise announcement as a "stab in the back" by the U.S.

In July, the U.S. said it is removing Turkey from its F-35 fighter jets program after Ankara received the first parts of a Russian missile defense system.

The U.S. made it clear that the "F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities."

Russia began delivering its advanced S-400 system to Turkey in July, according to the BBC.

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