Top Turkish, U.S. Defense Officials to Meet on Syria Troop Exit
U.S. military vehicles in Manbij.
Photographer: Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images
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Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar will meet his acting U.S. counterpart Pat Shanahan in Washington this week to discuss the pullout of American troops from Syria and Ankara’s concerns over U.S.-backed Kurdish forces there.
Turkey is increasingly impatient over the delayed U.S. withdrawal that’s holding up its plans to create a safe zone inside Syria to ward against security threats from Kurdish fighters it regards as an offshoot of the Kurdish separatist PKK group it’s battled for decades. The Kurds were armed by the U.S. to take a leading role in battling Islamic State.