The General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) issued a statement to the media and public opinion following the decision of the US to withdraw from borders checkpoints.

The statement said: "Despite our efforts to avoid any military escalation with Turkey and the flexibility we have shown to move forward with the establishment of the border security mechanism and [despite the fact that] we have fulfilled all our obligations in this regard, the US forces have not fulfilled their obligations and withdrew their forces from the border areas with Turkey to prepare for an invasion of northern and eastern Syria."

The statement added: "This Turkish military operation in northern and eastern Syria will have a significant negative impact on our war on ISIS and will destroy everything that has been achieved from the state of stability over the past years."

The statement ended with this remark: "We in the SDF will not hesitate for a moment to defend ourselves and call upon our people of all sects, Arabs, Kurds and Syriacs, Assyrians to join forces and stand with their legitimate forces to defend our country against this Turkish aggression."