PARIS (REUTERS) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday (Oct 8) met Jihane Ahmed, the spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to express France's solidarity with them in their fight against Islamic State in the region, said Macron's office.

The meeting was also an opportunity to reiterate that France remains "very worried" about the prospect of a Turkish military operation in Syria, added Macron's office on Wednesday.

Turkey says it is ready to advance into north-east Syria now that the United States has begun withdrawing troops from the Turkey-Syria frontier in an abrupt policy shift by US President Donald Trump widely criticised in Washington as a betrayal of America's allies, the Kurds.