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Turkey to suspend Syria offensive, Mike Pence announces | Turkey to suspend Syria offensive, Mike Pence announces |
(32 minutes later) | |
Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in northern Syria to let Kurdish-led forces withdraw, US Vice-President Mike Pence has announced. | Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in northern Syria to let Kurdish-led forces withdraw, US Vice-President Mike Pence has announced. |
The development followed talks in Ankara between Mr Pence and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. | |
All military operations will be paused for five days, and the US will help facilitate an "orderly withdrawal" of Kurdish-led troops from what Turkey has termed a "safe zone" on the border. | All military operations will be paused for five days, and the US will help facilitate an "orderly withdrawal" of Kurdish-led troops from what Turkey has termed a "safe zone" on the border. |
Turkey launched its assault last week. | Turkey launched its assault last week. |
It aimed to push back the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led militia that Ankara views as a terrorist group, and resettle up to two million Syrian refugees in the area. | |
Critics raised fears that the move could trigger ethnic cleansing of the local Kurdish population. | |
The cross-border offensive came after US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling US forces out of the border region - a decision widely criticised in the US and internationally. | |
Mr Trump tweeted about the ceasefire before Mr Pence unveiled it, writing: "Millions of lives will be saved!" | |
He added later: "This deal could NEVER have been made 3 days ago. There needed to be some "tough" love in order to get it done. Great for everybody. Proud of all!" | |
Mr Pence credited Donald Trump's "strong leadership" during the announcement, saying: "He wanted a ceasefire. He wanted to stop the violence." | |
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told journalists the offensive would only be permanently halted when the SDF had left the border zone. | |
"We are suspending the operation, not halting it," he said. "We will halt the operation only after [Kurdish forces] completely withdraw from the region." | |
Mr Pence said the US would lift economic sanctions imposed on Turkey when the military offensive ended, and would not impose more in the meantime. | Mr Pence said the US would lift economic sanctions imposed on Turkey when the military offensive ended, and would not impose more in the meantime. |
The SDF was not represented at the talks between Washington and Ankara, and have not yet commented on the developments. | |
Mr Pence said the US had already contacted the Kurdish-led alliance, and would help facilitate its withdrawal. |