Turkey not reducing troops in Northern Cyprus: Erdogan

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has the right to keep its troops in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

Erdogan was speaking to reporters prior to his visit to Tajikistan’s capital Dusanbe, where he will attend the 5th Summit of Heads of State of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

“Turkey is not reducing its troops in Northern Cyprus,” Erdogan said, adding that the country "does not need permission from anyone" on the issue.

Commenting on an attack on a Turkish army’s observation point in Syria’s Idlib on Thursday which left three soldiers wounded, Erdogan said: “Turkey will not remain silent if Syrian regime continues to attack observation points in Idlib."

On the Turkey-U.S. cooperation in Manbij Erdogan said: “Our partner, the U.S., did not keep its promise on Manbij [...] However, it doesn’t mean that we give up on the Manbij issue, we keep all our plans and we will continue to do.”