Turkish foreign minister admits withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria

Turkey may withdraw its troops from the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR). This was announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in an interview with Al Jazeera TV channel on December 18.

According to him, the Turkish presence in Syria had two main goals - preventing further mass migration into the country and fighting terrorism.

"Now if we see that these two main problems have disappeared, we have no reason to stay in Syria. Now we see that the right steps are being taken in the right direction," Fidan said and added that Turkey will observe the actions of the new Syrian administration.

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Earlier on Dec. 14, Turkey reopened the republic's embassy in Damascus after nearly 13 years. The country's leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a speech in the city of Erzurum that Turkey had helped Syrian refugees by opening its borders.

Turkey's diplomatic mission in Syria was terminated in March 2012 due to a sharp deterioration in bilateral relations and security concerns on the Turkish side.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reported on December 10 that Turkey had begun work on opening an embassy in Damascus.

On December 8, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had resigned as head of state after negotiations with the opposition and left the country, instructing to carry out the transfer of power peacefully.

The situation in Syria escalated as a result of a major attack by armed formations in Aleppo and Idlib, which began on November 28 and led to the Syrian army's retaliatory actions against the militants.