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US-DIPLOMACY-TURKEY-SYRIA
US to withdraw troops as Turkey launches Syria operation: White House
WASHINGTON, Oct 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US troops in northern Syria will no
longer be near the border with Turkey, nor will they support Ankara’s “long-
planned 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 US 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 US 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.”
Washington had previously sought to stop any Turkish operation against a
US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia viewed by Ankara as a “terrorist” offshoot
of Kurdish militants in Turkey.
The US worked closely with the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia to
recapture swathes of territory form the IS jihadists.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1042 hrs