The United States will make a “determination” regarding its troops in Syria, President Donald Trump said Thursday without providing any further details and denying previous claims he would pull troops out of the country.
“I don't know who said that. But we'll make a determination on that,” Trump told reporters in response to a question about whether he had said he would withdraw American troops from Syria, according to a report in Irbil-based Rudaw news network.
“We're not involved in Syria. Syria's its own mess. ... They don't need us involved,” he said.
His remarks follow reports in Israeli media this week that "senior White House officials conveyed a message to their Israeli counterparts indicating that President Trump intends to pull thousands of U.S. troops from Syria."
Israel's official public broadcasting Kan wrote, "The withdrawal of American forces from Syria will raise significant concerns in Tel Aviv."
In December, taking advantage of Syrian factions toppling Bashar Assad's regime, Israel expanded its occupation in the Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized zone in Mount Hermon.
Furthermore, Israel declared the collapse of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement with Syria, deploying its military in the demilitarized zone of the Golan Heights, most of which it has occupied since 1967. This move has faced criticism from the U.N. and Arab states.
The U.S. has recently upped its presence of troops in Syria from 900 to around 2,000 after a coalition of anti-regime forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Assad on Dec. 8.
The Pentagon has explained the surge in numbers as a temporary measure to prevent Daesh from gaining a foothold in the country.
U.S. forces in Syria are the primary backers of the PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing YPG, which Washington calls its ally in the anti-Daesh coalition.
YPG leader Ferhan Abdi Şahin is resolutely against the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The U.S. withdrawal closely concerns Türkiye, who opposes Washington’s military cooperation with the PKK/YPG.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by the European Union, the U.S. and Türkiye. The group is responsible for more than 40,000 deaths in Türkiye, including women and children. It maintains strongholds in northern Iraq and Syria to create a self-styled “Kurdish state.”
The U.S. has dispatched troops along with military equipment and weapons to Syria’s northeast during the Syrian civil war to help the PKK/YPG under the pretext of the fight against Daesh. Ankara says the YPG/PKK is on par with Daesh and should have no presence in the new Syria.
Swathes of northern Syria, including oil-rich areas, have been occupied by the PKK/YPG since 2015.
Türkiye has mounted multiple operations against the PKK/YPG since 2016, and the Syrian National Army (SNA) has captured several YPG-occupied towns in the past months, including Manbij and Deir el-Zour.
Clashes have continued between the SNA and the YPG since, nowadays concentrated around the Tishrin Dam near Manbij.
Türkiye said it expects Trump to heed his NATO ally’s security concerns and pull back U.S. troops from northern Syria. Ankara has also threatened military action if the terrorist group refuses to disband.
Earlier this month, then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was working to address Türkiye's concerns and dissuade it from stepping up its offensive against the YPG.
In a call with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan last week, Blinken's successor Marco Rubio reiterated the "need for an inclusive transition in Syria," U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
