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Turkey: US says Syria Kurds are pulling back in north Syria

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2015 file photo, Syrian Kurdish militia members of the YPG make a V-sign next to a drawing of Abdullah Ocalan, jailed Kurdish rebel leader, in Esme village in Aleppo province, Syria. A Turkish military expedition into Syria has threatened a Kurdish political project just as Kurdish forces seemed on the verge of connecting their northern Syrian zones. It is the first Turkish ground intervention in the course of the Syria war, now in its sixth year, and it underscores how seriously Turkey is taking Kurdish autonomy next door. (Mursel Coban/Depo Photos via AP, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2015 file photo, Syrian Kurdish militia members of the YPG make a V-sign next to a drawing of Abdullah Ocalan, jailed Kurdish rebel leader, in Esme village in Aleppo province, Syria. A Turkish military expedition into Syria has threatened a Kurdish political project just as Kurdish forces seemed on the verge of connecting their northern Syrian zones. It is the first Turkish ground intervention in the course of the Syria war, now in its sixth year, and it underscores how seriously Turkey is taking Kurdish autonomy next door. (Mursel Coban/Depo Photos via AP, File) FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2015 file photo, Syrian Kurdish militia members of the YPG make a V-sign next to a drawing of Abdullah Ocalan, jailed Kurdish rebel leader, in Esme village in Aleppo province, Syria. A Turkish military expedition into Syria has threatened a Kurdish political project just as Kurdish forces seemed on the verge of connecting their northern Syrian zones. It is the first Turkish ground intervention in the course of the Syria war, now in its sixth year, and it underscores how seriously Turkey is taking Kurdish autonomy next door. (Mursel Coban/Depo Photos via AP, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkish Foreign Ministry says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has told his Turkish counterpart that Syrian Kurdish forces have started withdrawing east of the Euphrates River.

The pullback was a major demand by Ankara after Turkey sent in forces across the border to take a key Islamic State stronghold the previous day.

Turkish ministry officials say Kerry and Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke by telephone on Thursday. Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria was also meant to contain an expansion by Syria’s Kurds.

Battling IS militants in Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds have been able to seize nearly the entire stretch of the border with Turkey in northern Syria.

Vice President Joe Biden warned on Wednesday that the Syrian Kurdish forces will lose U.S. support unless they retreat east of the Euphrates.