Photo: IC

 

US forces in Syria started pulling back on Monday from Turkish border areas, opening the way for Ankara's threatened military intervention and heightening fears of a jihadist resurgence.

The withdrawal from key ­positions along Syria's northern border came after the White House said it would step aside to allow for a Turkish operation President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said could come at any moment.

The move marks a major shift in US policy, and effectively abandons the Kurds, who were Washington's main ally in the years-old battle against the so-called Islamic State group.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish militia that controls much of northeastern Syria, said early Monday in a statement that "US forces withdrew from the border areas with Turkey."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor confirmed that US forces had pulled back from key positions in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad.

A Kurdish official also told AFP that US forces had started withdrawing from the border, making way for a Turkish invasion, the scope of which remains to be seen.

Turkey has sent reinforcements to the border in recent weeks, and Erdogan said Monday in televised remarks the long-threatened offensive could "come any night without warning."

His comments came after Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter that Turkey was "determined to ensure our country's existence and security by clearing terrorists from this region." 

He was referring to the SDF, which has ties to Kurdish militants inside Turkey and which Ankara considers a terrorist organisation.

"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.

Ankara says it wants to urgently establish a "safe zone" on the other side of the border in which to send back some of the 3.6 million refugees who fled the eight-year war in Syria and live on Turkish soil.

But the Kurds argue that Turkey's goal is to weaken the Kurdish presence in the region by modifying the demographics of the area with the return of mostly Sunni Arab refugees.

The SDF, which has repeatedly complained that US President Donald Trump's declared intention to pull out of Syria was a historic betrayal, warned of the risks that a Turkish ­invasion would carry for the region.

The organization, which spearheaded - with backing from the US-led coalition - several of the most significant battles against IS over the past five years, vowed to resist any Turkish attack.