The United States begins to withdraw troops from northeast Syria, in a major policy shift, which opens the way for a Turkish attack on Kurdish-led forces long allied to Washington and hands Turkey responsibility for thousands of jihadist prisoners
A third U.S. official said any unilateral Turkish military offensive in Syria was a “bad idea” and the United States “will not help it in any way, but will also not resist it”.
Turkey has long argued for the establishment of a 20-mile “safe zone” along the border, under Turkish control, driving back the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia - which is the dominant force in the SDF alliance and which Ankara considers a terrorist organization and a threat to its national security. U.S. and Turkish military forces conduct a joint ground patrol inside the security mechanism area in northeast, Syria, October 4, 2019. Picture taken October 4, 2019. U.S. Army/Staff Sgt. Andrew Goedl/Handout via REUTERS.
The statement made pointed reference to Washington’s European allies, saying many captured IS fighters came from those nations, which had resisted U.S. calls to take them back. However the Kremlin, the strongest foreign ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said Syria’s territorial integrity had to be preserved and Moscow continued to seek the withdrawal of all foreign forces illegally present in Syria.
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