Turkey will not leave Syria until people hold election: Erdogan

Turkey will not leave Syria until the Syrian people hold an election, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

"Whenever the Syrian people hold an election, we will leave Syria to its owners after they hold their elections," Erdogan said at a forum in Istanbul.

Erdogan agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month to set up a demilitarised zone between rebel and government fighters in northern Syria. It also has a presence in the northwest Afrin region and further east, around Jarablus.