Turkey's foreign minister says Turkish forces will "neutralize" any remaining Syrian Kurdish fighter they come across in areas now under Turkish control in northeastern Syria.
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Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments on Wednesday - even after the military signaled it won't resume its offensive, following separate agreements Turkey reached with the U.S. and Russia.
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The military said earlier the U.S. had announced Syrian Kurdish fighters completed their pullout from areas Turkey invaded this month as a five-day cease-fire expired.
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Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency: "If there are terrorist remnants, we would clear them."
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Cavusoglu said the deal with Russia - which foresees joint Turkish-Russian patrols after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces - would continue until a lasting political solution for Syria is reached. He says the border areas would be locally-administered, mostly by Arabs.
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He said Turkey agreed not to conduct joint patrols in the city of Qamishli, because of Russian concerns that such a move could lead to a confrontation between Turkish troops and the Syrian government forces who have long been present in the area.
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