In a remarkable announcement late Sunday night, Washington said Turkey will soon begin a military incursion into northern Syria.

The move marks a major shift in United States foreign policy and effectively gives Turkey the green light to attack US-backed Kurdish forces — one of Washington's strongest allies in Syria.

Following a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the White House said that US forces would not be involved in the operation and will be pulling out from the area.

“Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria,” a statement said. “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 added Turkey would now be responsible for all captured ISIS fighters who are currently being held by US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

As of last month, the US said about 1,000 US troops were operating in northeastern Syria. Sunday's statement did not specify if this constituted a full withdrawal of personnel from the country.

‘Peace efforts’

On Saturday, Erdogan announced Turkey had “completed our preparations and action plan” and was ready to launch a “ground and air operation” east of the Euphrates River. He said the goal was to establish “peace” by clearing the region of “terrorists.”

“It is maybe today or tomorrow the time to clear the way for (our) peace efforts … We will carry out a ground and air operation,” Erdogan said while addressing a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in Kizilcahaman, a retreat town near the capital Ankara.

Nine trucks loaded with armoured vehicles and a bus carrying military personnel were seen moving towards the Turkey-Syria border on Saturday, east of the Euphrates River, according to Turkey's state-owned Anadolu Agency.

The convoy was sent to reinforce military units stationed at the border with Syria, the agency said.

Turkey's operation is aimed at clearing the US-backed Kurdish militia — the People's Protection Units (YPG) — away from Turkey's border.

Ankara regards the YPG as a terrorist group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought the Turkish state for more than three decades. But the US backs the YPG and credits the Kurds for helping defeat ISIS in Syria.

Turkey has been working with the US to establish “safe zones” that run along the Turkey-Syria border, but Anadolu reports that while Turkey welcomes the joint patrols, it has also said the US is not doing enough to set up the safe zone properly.

In a phone call with Trump, Erdogan expressed frustration over the US military's failure to implement the agreement between the two nations, according to a readout of the call released by the Turkish Presidency. The two leaders agreed to meet in Washington next month on Trump's invitation.

The US and Turkey have been working to establish the buffer zone, which the US calls a “security mechanism,” in northeast Syria as part of a bid to prevent a military incursion into the area that would target Syrian Kurdish groups, a potential operation that the US fears could undermine the fight against ISIS.

The US military's involvement along the Syria-Turkish border includes manning observation posts as well as patrolling with Turkish troops in the area.

US changes tone

Trump's decision to allow Erdogan to move forward with the operation and to move US forces out of the area goes against efforts by US officials to dissuade Turkey from carrying out military intervention.

“Any uncoordinated military operation by Turkey would be of grave concern as it would undermine our shared interest of a secure northeast Syria and the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Robertson said recently.
He added that the US was committed to implementing the security mechanism, or safe zone, and contrary to Erdogan's comments, said it was “on time, or ahead of schedule, in many areas.”

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that “we've made clear that this conflict shouldn't be militarized.”

However, a US official familiar with operations in Syria told CNN that is “very likely” Turkey will try something soon. The official said it's possible Ankara will start with a limited incursion to establish Turkish patrol bases on the Syrian side of the border with the goal of launching more ambitious clearance operations later.

“A response by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would play into Turkey's narrative that they need to make the area safe to return refugees,” the official added.

From the SDF's perspective, they feel that any unilateral action by Turkey on Syrian territory is a threat and they must respond.

“Allowing Turkish patrol bases now opens the door to permanent occupation and makes it easier for the Turkish military to attack the SDF later,” the official said.

Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces tweeted Saturday that, “SDF is committed to the security mechanism framework and has been taking necessary steps to preserve stability in the region. However, we will not hesitate to turn any unprovoked attack by Turkey into an all-out war on the entire border to DEFEND ourselves and our people.”