UPDATE - Trump says Türkiye will hold 'key to Syria,’ hails relationship with Turkish president

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By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that he thinks Türkiye "is going to hold the key to Syria" after over five decades of Assad family rule abruptly came to an end this month, hailing his relationship with the Turkish president.

"Nobody knows what's going to happen with Syria, but I think Turkey is going to hold the key to Syria," the incoming president told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate. "I don't think you've heard that from anybody else, but I've been pretty good at predicting."

Trump said Türkiye is "very smart" as he hailed his personal relationship with his Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Turkey is a major force, by the way, and Erdogan is somebody I got along with great but he has a major military force. And his has not been worn out with war," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate. "He's built a very strong, powerful army."

Trump demurred when asked if he would withdraw American troops from northeastern Syria, but said Erdogan is "a very smart guy."

Numerous foreign policy analysts and commentators have said Türkiye emerged with a stronger hand from the recent events in Syria.

In Syria, the US has long partnered with the SDF as its primary anti-Daesh/ISIS partner, over strenuous objections from Türkiye. The group is led by the YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, a designated terrorist group in the US and Türkiye. Washington's support for the SDF has greatly exacerbated tensions in bilateral relations between the NATO allies.

Since ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad’s fall, clashes have been ongoing between the SDF and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.

Trump, who claimed Türkiye carried out what he called an "unfriendly takeover" in Syria "without a lot of lives being lost," said Türkiye is "very smart."