"Bolton's remarks in Israel are not acceptable. It is not possible for me to swallow this," Erdogan said during a speech in parliament. "Bolton made a serious mistake. If he thinks that way, he is in a big mistake. We will not compromise."
US President Donald Trump announced late last month that the US had defeated ISIS in Syria and was pulling its 2,000 troops out of the country.
But Bolton -- who is currently on a four-day trip to Israel and Turkey -- appeared to add several conditions to Trump's announcement, saying over the weekend that the withdrawal was contingent upon preventing ISIS from reviving itself and on obtaining security guarantees from the Turks for US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria.
"We don't think the Turks ought to undertake military action that's not fully coordinated with and agreed to by the United States at a minimum so they don't endanger our troops -- but also so that they meet the President's requirement that the Syrian opposition forces that have fought with us are not endangered," Bolton told reporters in Jerusalem on Sunday, Reuters reported.
Turkey considers several Kurdish groups -- including the People's Protection Units, also known as the YPG -- to be terrorist organizations. The YPG is the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is the main US partner on the ground in the battle against ISIS and has controlled a large swathe of northern Syria for the past several years.
Trump's initial withdrawal announcement blindsided US allies -- not least the Kurds -- but was praised by Erdogan, who launched an operation in northwest Syria last January to clear the border area of Kurdish fighters.
In late December, the YPG announced it was withdrawing from the flashpoint town of Manbij, and called on the Syrian government forces to protect the area from an incoming Turkish attack.
"We completed our military preparations. We are determined to take steps on YPG. We will soon move to eliminate terror groups in Syria," Erdoğan said Tuesday.
US National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said in a statement that Bolton had a "productive discussion" with Erdoğan's senior adviser Ibrahim Kalin on Tuesday.
"They had a productive discussion of the President's decision to withdraw at a proper pace from northeast Syria, identified further issues for dialogue, and emphasized the strong bilateral relationship between the US and Turkey," said Marquis.
"The US looks forward to the ongoing military-to-military consultations today on our cooperation in Syria."
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