New U.S. President Joe Biden is reprioritizing the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) through support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Arab News said.

The policy is a break with that of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who ordered a partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria in October 2019.

The U.S. pull-out precipitated a Turkish military operation against the SDF, which Ankara regards as a security threat for historic links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to launch a new assault on the SDF, and Turkish-backed Syrian militias continue to clash with the group.

But the Biden administration’s renewed support for the SDF has made a new Turkish attack unlikely, Arab News said.

“There have been a lot of statements from Turkey about their advance into the area because of the terror threat,” the news outlet cited Navvar Saban, a military analyst from the Istanbul-based Omran Center for Strategic Studies, as saying.

“it is crystal clear that such an advance will no longer happen,” Saban said.

Reporter's code: 50101