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US may consider pulling out of Iraq after presidential election — top Turkish diplomat

According to Hakan Fidan, the US is discussing withdrawing troops from the Baghdad-controlled area of Iraq in 2025 and from Iraqi Kurdistan in 2026

ISTANBUL, November 6. /TASS/. The US may consider the possibility of withdrawing troops from Iraq and Syria after the 2024 presidential election, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

"After the election, the US may consider pulling troops out of Iraq and Syria. They [the Americans] don’t want their military to be present in the region that is in Iran’s sphere of influence. As long as US troops are stationed there, they are open to attacks," he told the Turkiye newspaper.

According to Fidan, the US is discussing withdrawing troops from the Baghdad-controlled area of Iraq in 2025 and from Iraqi Kurdistan in 2026.

The top Turkish diplomat also said that the future of the US-led coalition fighting against the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia), which was created in 2014, is on the agenda. "The plan is to shift the [coalition’s] area of responsibility to Africa," Fidan noted.