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Official says Turkey won’t ask to attack Kurds

(AP) – A top Turkish official says Turkey will not seek permission from allies to conduct a military offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters but is willing to coordinate operations.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin also told reporters following talks with White House national security adviser John Bolton that there is no slowdown in the timetable for a U.S. withdrawal from Syria, adding that U.S. officials have said during their discussions that the withdrawal could take place within “120 days.”

Kaliln said their talks on Tuesday focused on how the United States would collect the weapons that were given to Kurdish militia fighting the Islamic State group as well as the future of U.S. bases in Syria.

Bolton met with Kalin and other senior officials on the safety of Syrian Kurdish allies – a condition of President Donald Trump’s planned withdrawal of U.S. troops but got no assurances.

Kalin said he handed over two dossiers to Bolton – one on Turkish help to Kurdish populations in Iraq and Syria, the other on the Kurdish militias’ “criminal activities and human rights violations.”

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