ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – US troops will not abruptly withdraw from northeast Syria, the US special presidential envoy in the fight against ISIS told delegates at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday.
Taking part in a panel discussion at the annual conference held in the south German city, James Franklin Jeffrey said the planned withdrawal of America’s 2,000 troops from Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria would be a phased process.
“We’ve been telling them [America’s allies] continuously this is not going to be an abrupt, rapid withdrawal but a step-by-step withdrawal,” said Jeffrey.
“We are consulting very carefully and very closely with them. If they felt that they weren’t consulted enough initially, we are doing our very, very best night and day, believe me, to ensure that they don’t feel under-consulted right now,” he added.
US President Donald Trump stunned members of his administration and America’s allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – the Kurdish-led force spearheading the ground operation against ISIS remnants in eastern Syria – when he announced the imminent US pullout last fall.
Jeffrey’s predecessor, Brett McGurk, resigned over the decision, as did defense secretary Jim Mattis, interpreting the withdrawal as a betrayal of America’s allies.
Critics fear the withdrawal of foreign troops will leave the Kurds of northern Syria vulnerable to attack by Turkey or the Syrian regime.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, who also appeared on the panel in Munich, said the priority is to remove the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the Turkish border.
“We have respect for the territorial integrity of Syria, but the main issue is the safety and security of the Turkish border and Turkish people,” Akar said.
“The main issue is security to get rid of the terrorists regardless of whether the YPG or Daesh,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
The YPG makes up the backbone of the SDF. Turkey has long criticized US support for the group which it considers a terrorist organization with the ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
ISIS remnants in eastern Syria are on the brink of defeat, according to SDF and coalition statements. Up to 1,000 civilians are thought to remain inside the group’s last holdout in Deir ez-Zor.