U.S. withdrawal from Syria dependent on pledge from Turkey, Bolton says

President Trump's planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria will not happen until Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledges not to continue to attack Kurdish Syrian fighters, National Security Adviser John Bolton said Sunday.

"There are objectives that we want to accomplish that condition the withdrawal," Bolton said. "The timetable flows from the policy decisions that we need to implement." Such a promise from Erdogan is unlikely to materialize, as Ankara considers U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in Syria to be terrorists because of their ties to Kurdish rebels in Turkey.

On Friday, an unnamed senior administration official told NBC News the withdrawal will not include all U.S. forces in Syria, and that some of those withdrawn will be redeployed to Iraq, not sent home as Trump has suggested. The official said no timeline for withdrawal on any scale has been determined.

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