Turkish authorities are planning to establish a military base near the northern Syrian city of al-Bab, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said in an interview released on Monday.
"We already have one base near Çobanbey [town of Al-Rai in the northern Syria]. Our General Staff is planning to establish a new military base near a strategic height of Aqil west of al-Bab. The international community has been informed about it," Kaynak told the Hürriyet newspaper.
He added that Ankara had reduced the number of its troops deployed in Syria from 8,000 at the peak of the anti-IS Euphrates Shield operation launched in 2016 down to 1,500 people after its end.
