Turkey welcomes US decision to withdraw from Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusgolu on Friday welcomed the United States' decision to withdraw its troops from Syria and said Washington should coordinate with Ankara on the pull-out.

USPresident Donald Trump's announcement that the United States would withdraw its 2,000 troops has upended a pillar of American policy in the Middle East. Critics say it will make it harder to find a diplomatic solution to Syria's seven-year-old civil war.

But forTurkey, Trump's abrupt move marks the removal of a major source of friction with the United States. The two NATO allies have long been at odds over Syria, where Washington has backed Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters.Turkeyconsiders the YPG a terrorist organisation.

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"With regards to the withdrawal, the decision of the United States to withdraw from Syria, we welcome that decision andTurkeyfully support the territorial integrity of (Syria)," Cavusoglu told reporters in Malta, during an official visit.

"We need to coordinate this withdrawal with the United States and we are already in touch at different levels."

President Tayyip Erdogan said this weekTurkeymight start a new military operation in Syria at any moment. Its forces have intervened to sweep YPG and Islamic State fighters from territory west of the Euphrates over the past two years. It has not gone east of the river, partly to avoid direct confrontation with USforces.

Turkeyhas repeatedly voiced frustration over what it says is the slow implementation of a deal with Washington to pull YPG fighters out of Manbij, a town in mainly Arab territory west of the Euphrates.

"We have the Manbij roadmap, we discussed whether we can implement this by the time that they (USforces) withdraw," Cavusoglu said, referring to the Manbij deal.

"So many issues thatTurkeyand the United States should coordinate (on) and there shouldn't be any vacuum in the country that terrorist groups might also fill."