Pentagon: We Move US Forces Out of the Path of Potential Turkish Incursion

* Photo: AA/Archive

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Jonathan Hoffman, the Chief Spokesperson for the US Department of State (Pentagon), has released a written statement after President Donald Trump announced that they would withdraw their soldiers from northern Syria.

Hoffman has rejected the allegation that Trump took the decision of withdrawal without consulting Pentagon:

"Despite continued misreporting to the contrary, Secretary Esper and Chairman Milley were consulted over the last several days by the President regarding the situation and efforts to protect U.S. forces in northern Syria in the face of military action by Turkey."

'No changes to our force presence in Syria'

The statement of the Pentagon Spokesperson has continued as follows:

"The Department's position has been and remains that establishing a safe zone in northern Syria is the best path forward to maintaining stability.

"Unfortunately, Turkey has chosen to act unilaterally. As a result we have moved the U.S. forces in northern Syria out of the path of potential Turkish incursion to ensure their safety. We have made no changes to our force presence in Syria at this time".

Erdoğan and Trump had a phone call

The US currently has around 1,000 soldiers in Syria. The majority of these soldiers were deployed in the east of Euphrates controlled by the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as part of struggle against ISIS.

After US President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked on the phone on October 6, the White House announced that they would withdraw their soldiers from Syria. This statement has sparked controversy on the ground that it would affect the struggle against ISIS negatively. (TP/SD)