'Not Unusual' For Gen. Milley To Visit Troops -US State Dept. On General's Trip To Syria

'Not Unusual' for Gen. Milley to Visit Troops -US State Dept. on General's Trip to Syria

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2023) It is "not unusual' for Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to visit deployed US service members around the world, US State Department spokesperson Ned price said during a press briefing.

Gen. Milley had reportedly made an unannounced visit to a US military base in Syria on Saturday. According to media reports, as part of his trip, Milley planned to assess the almost eight years of US efforts to combat the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia), as well as measures to protect US military personnel in the Arab Republic.

"The US Army Chief does pop up around the world to visit with US service members.

That's what we did in this context. Our service members are deployed in Syria in service of a goal that we share with Turkey as well as with our other allies, as well as with all members of the world coalition to defeat ISIS," Price said on Monday. "It's not unusual for the Chairman of Joint Chiefs to visit with US service members who are deployed."

On Monday, US Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry in connection with the visit of Milley to Syria, a diplomatic source in Ankara told Sputnik.