US, Turkey force Kurds to pull back in north Syria

ANKARA, Turkey — Syrian Kurdish forces have started withdrawing east of the Euphrates River, Turkish officials said Thursday, a move that could fulfill a major demand by Ankara and the United States a day after Turkey sent in tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels take a key Islamic State stronghold.

The Turkish officials were quoting Secretary of State John Kerry, who relayed the news in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart.

Turkey is also aiming to contain the expansion by Syria’s Kurds, who are also backed by the United States and have used the fight against the Islamic State group and the chaos of Syria’s civil war to seize nearly the entire stretch of the border with Turkey in northern Syria.

According to Turkish ministry officials, Kerry and Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the Turkish military operation.

Kerry stressed that the Syrian Kurdish forces “were in the process of retreating east of the Euphrates,” the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.

[...] the main Syrian Kurdish faction, known as the YPG, said its troops have “returned to their bases” after helping liberate Manbij from the Islamic State group.