Turkey to delay operation in Syria, Erdogan says as US plans to withdraw troops

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey would postpone a military operation against Syrian Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria as he “cautiously” welcomed Washington’s decision to withdraw its troops in the area. “We had decided last week to launch a military incursion in the east of the Euphrates river… Our phone call with [US President Donald Trump], along with contacts between our diplomats and security officials and statements by the US, have led us to wait a little longer,” he said in a speech in Istanbul, according to Reuters. One of the leaders of Syrian Kurdish forces said on Friday in Paris that they could withdraw from the frontlines of battle against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and re-deploy to the Turkish border if the region they control is attacked by Turkey, AFP reports. The Kurds are seen as the big losers of Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria.