Turkey agrees to pause attacks in northern Syria for five days as Kurds retreat

[phill4paul]

Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that the United States and Turkey had agreed on a five-day Turkish cease-fire, days after the country’s forces launched an offensive in northern Syria.

“It will be a pause in military operations for 120 hours while the United States facilitates the withdrawal of the YPG from the affected areas in the safe zone. And once that is completed, Turkey has agreed to a permanent cease-fire,” Pence said alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Ankara, Turkey, referring to the mostly Kurdish fighting force.

The withdrawal of the Kurds from the border area has “literally already begun,” Pence said. Turkey views the Kurdish fighters as terrorists, though the United States worked closely with them in the battle against the Islamic State group.

President Donald Trump, who was in Texas for a campaign rally, told reporters later Thursday that “this is an incredible outcome.”

“The agreement today, first, ends the violence, which is what President Trump sent us here to do,” Pence said. “We have also achieved an opportunity, by working with YPG to move out of the area, to create more peace and security and stability in that buffer zone.”

He said that the United States had repeated assurances from the Kurdish fighters that they will leave the border zone, and that they “greatly welcome the opportunity for a cease-fire, to make a safe and orderly withdrawal from those areas in the safe zone where they still have a presence, and we are very confident that that’s already taking place.”

The announcement came after Pence and Pompeo met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Pence said that negotiations lasted more than five hours with Erdogan and his team.

Prior to the Pence-Pompeo press conference, Trump tweeted about “great news” coming out of the meeting in Turkey, claiming that “millions of lives will be saved.”

“I spoke to President Trump just a few moments ago. And I know the president is very grateful for President Erdogan’s willingness to step forward, to enact this cease-fire, and to give an opportunity for a peaceful solution to this conflict that commenced one week ago,” Pence said.

Pence said the cease-fire also involved a Turkish agreement to take no military action against the strategic border town of Kobani, which was taken by Syrian forces allied with that country’s president, Bashar Assad, on Wednesday.

“In addition, the United States and Turkey have both mutually committed to a peaceful resolution and future for the safe zone, working on an international basis to ensure that peace and security defines this border region with Syria,” he said.

Pence hailed the cease-fire as a “great contribution to security in this region, and a great contribution to the strong and enduring relationship between the United States of America and Turkey.”

Trump had faced bipartisan scrutiny for his withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, which prompted Turkey’s attack on the Kurdish-held region. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Republican ally, called Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the area the “biggest mistake of his presidency.”

Trump conceded Thursday that his tactics were unconventional, but suggested that was to his advantage.

“I took a lot of heat from a lot of people, even some of the people in my own party, but they were there, in the end, they were there, they were all there,” Trump said. “Look, this is about the nation, this isn’t about Republicans or Democrats.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/17/us-...yria-vice-president-mike-pence-announces.html

 

[Swordsmyth]

President Trump declared Thursday "a great day for civilization" as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced terms of a cease-fire agreement that would end violence between Turkey and Kurds in Syria, following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
The deal is for a 120-hour cease-fire, during which time the Kurdish-led forces could pull back from the roughly 20-mile-wide safe zone on the Turkish-Syrian border. All Turkish military operations under the recent offensive known as Operation Peace Spring will pause during that time, and the operation itself will come to an end entirely upon the completion of the Kurdish withdrawal, under the terms of the deal.

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pen...kish-president

 

[Origanalist]

 

[TheCount]

I thought that we didn't care and it had nothing to do with us.

 

[Anti Globalist]

Interesting. Lets see how this plays out.

 

[Origanalist]

I thought that we didn't care and it had nothing to do with us.

There is nothing but good news coming out of there, why all the hate?

 

[TheCount]

There is nothing but good news coming out of there, why all the hate?

I'm trying to understand the propaganda.

Yesterday we had nothing to do with it.

Today we are a signatory to a ceasefire that we supposedly brokered.


What, exactly, is US policy on Syria? Is there one?

 

[Swordsmyth]

I thought that we didn't care and it had nothing to do with us.

That's true but he can still engage in diplomacy to make peace and placate the American politicians that care and were attacking him.

 

[Swordsmyth]

I'm trying to understand the propaganda.

Yesterday we had nothing to do with it.

Today we are a signatory to a ceasefire that we supposedly brokered.


What, exactly, is US policy on Syria? Is there one?

The policy is to get out and stay out, that includes making the politicians who want us to save the Kurds happy without staying or sending more troops.

 

[Zippyjuan]

The policy is to get out and stay out, that includes making the politicians who want us to save the Kurds happy without staying or sending more troops.

"We will be out of Syria in 30 days". Trump- December, 2018. Policy failure if that is the goal. The problem is that he doesn't seem to have real long term plans on anything- just reacts at "spur of the moment".

 

[TheCount]

The policy is to get out and stay out

Then why are we staying?

 

[Swordsmyth]

Then why are we staying?

We aren't, we are conducting a phased withdrawal.

 

[vita3]

"What, exactly, is US policy on Syria? Is there one?"

It was total destruction under Obama. Hard to tell what Trumps was but we did clear out ISIS w/ Kurds while still destroying things & fighting Assad.

Looks like we are getting out & possibly hoping for peace...

 

[juleswin]

Let me just preface this post by saying that I support unconditional complete withdrawal of all US forces in Syria if that is what it takes to pull out. But this could have easily been negotiated before the pullout. I know Rand may not consider Syrian Kurds to be allies that we owe anything (even though they were the main Kurdish forces fighting ISIS with the US) but we did help us fight ISIS and steal valuable Syrian oil fields. I think we own then a sit down meeting to negotiate their evacuation.

This is why it hurts me so much watch Rand unconditionally defend Trump just for pulling back the troops from Northern Syria. It has now been proven that the Turks would have listened to us had we said something which we should have done for a group who assisted the US.

 

[TheCount]

We aren't, we are conducting a phased withdrawal.

No, we aren't.

You just made that up.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Let me just preface this post by saying that I support unconditional complete withdrawal of all US forces in Syria if that is what it takes to pull out. But this could have easily been negotiated before the pullout. I know Rand may not consider Syrian Kurds to be allies that we owe anything (even though they were the main Kurdish forces fighting ISIS with the US) but we did help us fight ISIS and steal valuable Syrian oil fields. I think we own then a sit down meeting to negotiate their evacuation.

This is why it hurts me so much watch Rand unconditionally defend Trump just for pulling back the troops from Northern Syria. It has now been proven that the Turks would have listened to us had we said something which we should have done for a group who assisted the US.

The Kurds only listened because we pulled out.

 

[vita3]

Juleswin,

Appreciate your point of view but you never seem to acknowledge the incredible resistance Trump has to face to turn off war machine.

 

[juleswin]

The Kurds only listened because we pulled out.

But we don't know that. He could have had a meeting with the Kurds to plead for time for the Kurds to evacuate like they just did and if they stay on, everybody would know that he tried.

I am going to tell now they way it looks, it seems like Trump abandoned her allies without even trying and that just looks bad

 

[Zippyjuan]

Trump hates war and military. Just since May he has sent 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East. Now he is sending another couple thousand more to Saudi Arabia. He want $billions more for defense spending and also wants to expand the departments of the military- adding the Space War branch.

 

[juleswin]

Juleswin,

Appreciate your point of view but you never seem to acknowledge the incredible resistance Trump has to face to turn off war machine.

I am.not saying the job is easy but Trump does very well localizing the action, the issues is in the execution. He needs to work hard on it and when he does, I will praise him on this forum.