ELDERS from the Syrian Tribal Council called on all forces to “liberate the sacred soil of Syria from the American and Turkish impurity” in a statement released on Monday evening.

The influential group said that US occupying forces must leave the country and called on all tribes to “join the ranks of the Syrian Arab Army to complete the liberation of Syria’s soil and rid it of a state of terrorism and chaos.”

Similar statements were issued by the council following its meetings in Aleppo in 2018 and 2019, as government forces retook control of large swathes of the country from a myriad of jihadist groups affiliated to Isis and al-Qaida.

It also took aim at the largely Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), branding them “agents of the American occupation.” The claim has been roundly rejected by the SDF — the main units that have fought off jihadist groups in northern Syria.

The statement urged the SDF to engage with the Syrian government and to “unify the guns to liberate Afrin, Jarablus, Ras al-Ain and Idlib from the clutches of the occupiers.”

Such channels remain open and discussions have been taking place between Rojavan representatives and the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

In recent years Turkey has operated as Nato’s regional battering ram, launching invasions of Syria and Iraq.

In Lebanon it has helped swing the civil war back in favour of the UN-backed Government of National Accord.

Turkey stands accused of war crimes in northern Syria, including the use of chemical weapons and the extra-judicial execution of Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf.

At least 300,000 people have been internally displaced within northern Syria while Turkey’s jihadist allies occupy whole swathes of the country, driving civilians from their homes.