Erdogan Rebuffs U.S. Call to Protect Kurds, Complicating Effort to Leave Syria

Turkish president says national security adviser John Bolton ‘made a serious mistake,’ threatens new offensive against key force fighting Islamic State

President Trump ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and declared that America had ‘defeated ISIS.’ WSJ's Gerald F. Seib discusses the significance of the decision and its consequences. Photo: AP

Vivian Salama in Ankara, Turkey, and

Dion Nissenbaum in Washington

Updated Jan. 8, 2019 6:50 p.m. ET

President Trump’s plans for a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria were thrown into disarray when Turkey’s president rejected a request to protect U.S. allies fighting in the region and instead threatened military strikes against them.

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan declined on Tuesday to meet with Mr. Trump’s visiting national security adviser, John Bolton, who had called on Turkey not to target a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia that Turkey calls a terrorist organization.

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