U.S., Turkey discuss plans for Syria

U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a Sunday phone conversation discussed how to cooperate in Syria after the United States said it would withdraw its remaining troops from the country. Trump said on Twitter that he and Erdogan held a productive conversation about “ISIS, our mutual involvement in Syria, and the slow and highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area.”

In a presidential statement, Turkey said the two leaders discussed military and diplomatic cooperation “to avoid a power vacuum which could result following any abuse of the withdrawal and transition phase in Syria.”

Trump tweeted last week that troops have defeated Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, which he called the only reason for remaining in the country. About 2,000 troops remain on the ground in Syria.