The United States will pull out of Syria only with assurances Turkey will not attack Kurdish allies there, national security adviser John Bolton told journalists yestaerday, according to reports.
Bolton made the remarks in Jerusalem on a four-day trip to Israel and Turkey. The White House announced last month that ISIS had been defeated in Syria and the United States would withdraw 2,000 troops from the war-stricken nation.
“We don’t think the Turks ought to undertake military action that’s not fully coordinated with and agreed to by the United States at a minimum so they don’t endanger our troops — but also so that they meet the President’s requirement that the Syrian opposition forces that have fought with us are not endangered,” Bolton told reporters.
He described the pullout as a “cause-and-effect mission,” according to The Wall Street Journal, demanding assurances from players in the region, and said the timetable hinges on certain policy decisions being put into effect. 
In a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bolton again alluded to the welfare of US-backed Kurds. In addition to ensuring that ISIS is defeated and cannot “revive itself,” the United States is discussing the defense of Israel and other allies in the region, including “those who fought with us against ISIS and other terror groups,” he said.
Bolton is traveling with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Ambassador James Jeffrey, the special representative for Syria engagement, National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis told CNN recently.
