US to step aside for Turkish assault on Kurds in Syria

WASHINGTON (AFP) — U.S. troops in northern Syria will no longer be near the border with Turkey, nor will they support Ankara’s “longplanned operation” into the country, the White House said on Sunday.

“Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria. The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial ‘Caliphate,’ will no longer be in the immediate area,” the White House said, using another acronym for the Islamic State (IS) group.

The statement, which followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s phone call with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, also criticized “France, Germany, and other European nations” for not repatriating their citizens detained in northern Syria who had joined IS.

“Turkey will now be responsible for all ISIS fighters in the area captured over the past two years in the wake of the defeat of the territorial ‘Caliphate’ by the United States,” the statement said.

Earlier on Sunday, Erdogan and Trump agreed during a phone call to meet in Washington next month to discuss creating a “safe zone” in northern Syria, the Turkish presidency said.

Erdogan also expressed his “frustration over the U.S. military and security bureaucracy’s failure” to implement an August deal establishing a buffer zone on the Turkish border.

The day before, the Turkish leader warned that Ankara could launch a cross-border offensive “as soon as today, tomorrow.”