Pence Announces Turkey Agreed to a Ceasefire in Syria so U.S., Kurdish Forces Can Leave
The ceasefire will last for 120 hours.
Vice President Mike Pence announced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to a ceasefire in northern Syria.
The two men, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, met for over five hours to discuss the situation.
From CNBC:
Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that the United States and Turkey had agreed on a Turkish cease-fire in Syria, days after the country’s forces launched an offensive in northern Syria.
“Let me say this also includes an agreement by Turkey to engage in no military action against the community of Kobani,” Pence said. “And, 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.”
The ceasefire will last for 120 hours. This will allow American and Kurdish forces to leave “from a designated safe zone at the country’s border.”
In return, Turkey will not face new sanctions from the U.S. Once the ceasefire becomes permanent, America will “revoke all economic punishments.”
Great news out of Turkey. News Conference shortly with @VP and @SecPompeo. Thank you to @RTErdogan. Millions of lives will be saved!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2019
Trump made the decision to pull out our troops from Syria ten days ago, which allowed Turkey to begin an offensive. This left the Kurds unprotected.
I blogged on that day that Erdogan does not keep his hatred of Kurds a secret from anyone. He considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian Kurds helping to defeat ISIS, “as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged an insurgency against Turkey for 35 years.”
Many nations, including America, have listed PKK as a terrorist group. Turkey declared YPG a terrorist group in 2018.
YPG changed its name to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) back in 2017. Special Operations Command Head U.S. Army General Raymond Thomas encouraged the group to do this due to Turkish concerns that YPG has a connection to PKK.
SDF swore it would do anything to protect itself if Turkey attacks the group.
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Comments
Kinda funny to watch the progs who have been screeching “No Blood for Oil! Get the US out of the Middle East!” for so long suddenly go all jingoistic and start rattling sabers.
TDS will make a person do and say some crazy things; the cognitive dissonance must be unbearable. Hell, it just killed that corrupt swap critter from Baltimore.
Precisely. Donald Trump hasn’t learned. In order to get the wall built, he needs to say that he DOESN’T want it built.
Trump broke the anti-war movement. For the first time in 50 years – for the first time ever!!!! – Trump broke them!
Maybe that’s the real reason Cummings died today – vital funds cut off?
This will also give the money grubbing Congress Critters and their employees time ot out of there also?
Ha!
Good point Tom.
But they’re artisanal sabers made using renewable energy and locally-sourced steel from sustainable, environmentally-friendly mining.
In the meantime, I’m still awaiting the genocide predicted by all the talking heads and swamp. It’s been how many days already? It’s always the people in air conditioned offices that want to go to war.
Perhaps the MSM, Media are so obsessed with that because they see their own coming hard and fast on top of them NOW!
Erdogan does not look too happy in that picture.
That’s actually a picture of him ‘not being a fool’.
Pence just asked Erdogan why he’s wearing purple tie with a blue shirt.
You’d be unhappy, too.
I was thinking he looks kind of – shifty. Like my kids when I tell them to hug and make up and the one most offended poutingly does so, but cannot wait to get out the room to continue his rant about injustice.
We have 50+ US nukes in Turkey. They should be removed and kept with a more trusting “ally” …. like Poland for one.
Erdogan is very bad news.
One of the first news reports I read this morning was that Erdogan would not be meeting with Pence and Pompeo. Now it’s reported that they cut a deal. Impossible to figure out what to believe.
Apparently they talked for four hours. Not sure if that was all Pence and Erdogan, but it was not just a photo opportunity.
And this is all about a strip of nominally Syrian land about 15 – 20 miles wide along the Turkish board, that in fact has been a pure no-man’s land for at least a decade. Kurds have no more “right” to it than anyone does, in fact the Syrian Govm’t has a better claim than anyone.
but you could not find One Single American who could care less about what happens on the miserable little patch of land, or which band of miscreants and thugs is in charge of it.
Trump’s Dallas Rally tonight is going to be spectacular. I can’t wait until I hear his version of this meeting, and the one yesterday he had with Nancy. I am going to have to pop extra popcorn.
Good idea! I think I’ll go out and buy some!
Hurray We can now Impeach Pence! It’s collusion, I tell you, and quid pro quo, Turkey either had to agree or else Sanctions. Please forward this comment to Speaker Pullousekey.
There’s an old British song from World War Two that goes, ‘Run, rabbit, run rabbit, run run run…’ But that was directed at Hitler while we were fighting him, & indeed made him Run in the Battle of Britain, North Africa, Normandy & elsewhere. Putin, Assad & ISIS have every right to adopt that song against the USA right now. & For how long in the future? Once you start running it’s far harder to stop than if you hadn’t. The bleating of the lamb Excites the tiger! By the time you Have to turn, shall you have become a worm..?
Those folks hadn’t met Trump. It took Trump about five minutes to bring Gonetomorrow to the negotiating table.
Now Turkey, Russia, Syria and Iran can enjoy their own little Vietnam.
Laim sanders, fitting name for an idiotic fool.
Get you a plane ticket and go fight the war yourself.
pelosi and schumer more than likely planned to storm out of the meeting and run to the cameras. If so, they played themselves. Cease fire in Turkey accomplished without them. Instead of participating in a meeting to improve the world, they ran out and yelled “Orange man bad!” nancy and chuck are using the 20th century political playbook. Meanwhile PDJT is using his acumen and negotiating skills built up over a lifetime of business deals.
So true. I thought he would, but he’s doing it even better than I expected. If the dems weren’t insane, he could even do a deal with them.
..and one could search every grain of sand with a microscope and not find a single US Interest on any of them.
Now, Afghanistan?
Yes please, it’s way past time. GWB was right to go in and whip ass after 9/11. But we’ve stayed about 17 years too long.
This will allow American and Kurdish forces to leave
And why should the Kurds agree to this? That area is part of their home in Syria.
I don’t think that’s enough reason for us to stay and play “Tripwrire, 2d edition”. But let’s be honest about what we’re doing.
“And why should the Kurds agree to this?”
They don’t get to agree, they have an opportunity to leave or stay and be annihilated.
“That area is part of their home in Syria.”
“Home” is something you can defend, otherwise it belongs to someone else.
Donald J. Trump
Verified account @realDonaldTrump
1h1 hour ago (Oct. 18th 12:00 noon EST)
….I have just been notified that some European Nations are now willing, for the first time, to take the ISIS Fighters that came from their nations. This is good news, but should have been done after WE captured them. Anyway, big progress being made!!!!