In early October that same year, following a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump, Trump announced the withdrawal of US forces from the region, which allowed Erdoğan to dismiss the first buffer zone deal and launch his 2019 offensive into north-eastern Syria against the SDF, which Turkey considers to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, an organization considered by Turkey as an outlawed terrorist group.[10] Having previously dismantled their fortifications and having their positions observed as part of the first deal, and now stripped of military backing, SDF units reportedly faced a 'desperate' challenge in having to defend their territory against both the Turkish Army and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army.[11][12] Despite initially offering armed resistance, SDF units were nonetheless forced to withdraw, triggering a wave of over 300,000 displaced people, amid Kurdish fears that Turkey would resort to ethnic cleansing against the Kurdish population.[13] Although Turkey's invasion was widely condemned internationally, the SDF stood little chance against the Turkish Army and the TFSA.[12] Amid what one SDF commander described as a choice between "compromise and genocide", the SDF turned to the Syrian Government, with which they have had a lukewarm relationship, for help.[14][15]