The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Wednesday called upon the international community and the Global Coalition which aims to defeat Daesh* to establish a no-fly zone to protect Syria from "an imminent humanitarian crisis" in light of the Turkish military operation which is expected to be launched shortly.
The statement comes hours after Turkey's director of communications, Fahrettin Altun, announced that the Turkish army would cross the Syrian border in the nearest time and start the military operation in northeastern Syria.
The Turkish Defence Ministry tweeted Tuesday that all the preparations for the operation were complete and the offensive might begin at any moment.
This comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump announced late on Sunday that it began a pullout of US troops from northeast Syria and would not "support or be involved in" Turkey's operation. However, President Trump later tweeted that Washington was in "no way" abandoning the Kurds.
* Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia