Donald Trump has said Turkey will "eradicate whatever is left of ISIS in Syria" as US troops and forces withdraw from the country.

The US president said on Sunday: "President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey has very strongly informed me that he will eradicate whatever is left of ISIS in Syria....and he is a man who can do it plus, Turkey is right 'next door.' Our troops are coming home!"

Mr Trump spoke to his Turkish counterpart on Sunday and the pair agreed to co-ordinate their efforts "to avoid a power vacuum" following the US withdrawal, Mr Erdogan said in a statement.

Earlier, Mr Trump tweeted that he and Mr Erdogan "discussed (IS), our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area."

President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey has very strongly informed me that he will eradicate whatever is left of ISIS in Syria....and he is a man who can do it plus, Turkey is right “next door.” Our troops are coming home! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018

Ankara was one of the few US allies to endorse Mr Trump's shock decision to pull the roughly 2,000 US troops out of Syria.


The move gives Turkey more scope to target US-backed Kurdish fighters who have led the ground battle in the war against IS but whom Ankara sees as terrorists.

Kurdish militia groups were particularly dismayed by Mr Trump's decision.

Kurdish affairs analyst Mutlu Civiroglu said the pull-back will open the way "for Turkey to start its operations against the Kurds, and a bloody war will begin."

In another move illustrating his unpredictability, the US president announced his defence secretary James Mattis will leave his post two months earlier than planned, on 1 January.

Brett McGurk, who I do not know, was appointed by President Obama in 2015. Was supposed to leave in February but he just resigned prior to leaving. Grandstander? The Fake News is making such a big deal about this nothing event! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2018

Mr Trump, believed to be angered by General Mattis' stinging letter of resignation, tweeted that the "very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan" will take over on 1 January, 2019".

In a series of weekend tweets, Mr Trump implied he went out on a limb by appointing Mr Mattis, bringing to an end an often tense relationship that had been eroding in recent months.

When President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldn’t, I thought I should. Interesting relationship-but I also gave all of the resources that he never really had. Allies are very important-but not when they take advantage of U.S. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2018

The US president also hit back at critics following the resignation of Brett McGurk, the special envoy to the anti-IS coalition.

He tweeted that he did "not know" the diplomat, who quit days after Mr Mattis, saying he could not support Mr Trump's Syria decision.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that he "deeply regretted" Mr Trump's decision to withdraw US troops, and that "an ally must be reliable".