US to Withdraw Troops as Turkey Launches Syria Operation, White House

The US will play no role in an imminent Turkish operation against Kurdish forces in north-eastern Syria, the White House has said, in a major shift.

Turkey wants to clear Kurdish militiamen، whom it regards as terrorists، away from the border.

The White House has announced that Turkey will soon begin its military operation in northern Syria, casting uncertainty on the fate of the Kurdish fighters allied with the US campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group.

It was not clear whether that meant the US would be withdrawing its 1,000 or so troops completely from northern Syria.

It came hours after a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, during which a November meeting was planned, according to Turkish presidential sources.

Erdogan and Trump exchanged views on bilateral issues as well as the planned safe zone east of the Euphrates River, said Turkey’s Communications Directorate.

Turkey has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, pledging military action to prevent the formation of a “terrorist corridor” there.

The U.S. also accused France, Germany, and other European nations of dragging their feet in failing to take back captured Daesh fighters.