U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is calling it a cease-fire for at least five days after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. The United States had issued economic sanctions against the Turkish government and threatened additional sanctions if the military operation was not halted. President Erdogan wants to remove Kurdish-led forces from the border area and create a safe zone where millions of Syrian refugees now in Turkey could be resettled. US President Trump faced heavy criticism after removing American troops from northern Syria, leaving U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters to face the Turkish military.
To discuss all of this:
- Tulin Daloglu is the publisher and chief editor of halimiz.com.
- Sirwan Kajjo is a Kurdish affairs analyst and journalist.
- Mohamad Ali is a correspondent in Syria for Press TV.
- Yuval Weber is an associate professor of Russian and Eurasian studies at Daniel Morgan Graduate School.
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It was a really quiet and surreal meeting between the vice president of the U.S. and Turkey's President Erdogan.#Turkey#WarinSyria#PencemeetsErdogan pic.twitter.com/KXyLCmz4dx
— CGTN America (@cgtnamerica) October 17, 2019
US vice-president says Turkey agrees to "pause" military operations, while the US assists with "withdrawal" of Kurdish forces in northern Syria
Once that is completed Turkey "has agreed to a permanent ceasefire", he sayshttps://t.co/UJNnox5KpG pic.twitter.com/Wqftb3tNMU
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 17, 2019