US Forces Will Not Support Turkey’s Operation in Northern Syria, White House Says

The announcement came shortly after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara would kick off a military air and ground operation east of the Euphrates river in Syria in the coming days.

The United States will not support Turkey in its operation in Northern Syria, the White House announced after phone talks between US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey by telephone. 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 statement says.

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was planning to launch an operation in northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in the coming days. According to him, the purpose of the operation is to clear the Syrian border with Turkey from Kurdish militias, create a security zone and accommodate Syrian refugees there.

On August 7, Turkey and the United States agreed to create a safe zone in northern Syria after months of tensions between the two countries over the presence of Kurdish militia in the region.

Later in August, Erdogan warned that his country could launch a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria to the east of the Euphrates River if the United States failed to meet Ankara's conditions for a safe zone.

The area to the east of the Euphrates is currenty controlled by the self-defence forces, primarily comprised of Kurdish militia, including the US-backed YPG, which Ankara views as a part of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it considers to be a terrorist organisation.