US General Discusses Security Situation In Syria With Turkish Counterpart - Pentagon

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2019) US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford discussed the security situation in Syria with his Turkish General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler, Joint Staff Spokesperson Col. Patrick Ryder said in a readout of their phone call on Friday.

"The two leaders discussed updates to the security situation in Syria and the importance of US-Turkish cooperation in the region," the readout said.

The readout emphasized that the United States and Turkey continue to enjoy strong military-to-military relations as they both remain key members of the NATO alliance.

The phone call comes after the Pentagon on Wednesday announced that it began expelling Turkey from the international F-35 program after Ankara accepted the delivery of Russian S-400 air and missile defense systems.

� The Turkish Foreign Ministry called the US move a unilateral step which might bring irreparable damage to bilateral relations.

The US in recent months tried repeatedly to convince Turkey to cancel its planned purchase of the S-400s, saying the weapons system would compromise the F-35 project.�

Russia and Turkey signed the agreement for the delivery of four S-400 batteries in December 2017. The deliveries started earlier in July.