Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria.

A US soldier sits atop an armoured vehicle during a demonstration by Syrian Kurds against Turkish threats at a US-led international coalition base on the outskirts of Ras al-Ain town in Syria’s Hasakeh province near the Turkish border. AFP

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump on Sunday gave his blessing to a Turkish operation targeting Kurdish militants in northern Syria, saying the United States (US) will stand aside as Ankara launches its “long-planned” operation.

The move marks a major shift in US policy, and effectively abandons an American ally in the battle against the so-called Islamic State (IS) group that took over swathes of Syria.

“Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria,” a White House statement issued late Sunday evening 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,” it said, using another acronym for the IS group.

The statement, which followed a call between the US president and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also criticized “France, Germany, and other European nations” for what it said was their refusal to take back citizens detained in northern Syria.