Turkey and U.S. Agreed to Suspend Operation Source of Peace

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said that during talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the parties agreed to suspend the Turkish military operation in Syria for 120 hours, reports Fox News on October 17. 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. The United States will contribute to this: according to the vice president, the Americans are already working with Kurdish troops to help them withdraw As the politician explained at a press conference following the talks, 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. 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. Also Pence noted that Washington and Ankara agreed to create a security zone on the border with Syria. “This is a great day for civilization," Trump declared in a tweet following a press conference where Pence and Pompeo discussed the deal.Millions of lives will be saved”, thanking Erdogan. The meeting of Erdogan, Pence and Pompeo took place on October 17 in Ankara. In total, the negotiations lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes: first, the politicians spoke face to face, and then the conversation went on as a part of the delegations. On October 9, Erdogan announced the beginning of offensive known as Operation Peace Spring. Its goal is to destroy the terrorist corridor on the southern borders of Turkey and ensure peace in the region. The operation is targeted against the Workers Party of Kurdistan and the Islamic State group of terrorists banned in Turkey (banned in Russia). The leaders of European countries, in particular France, Germany and the UK, harshly condemned offensive that began in Syria. The United States announced the imposition of sanctions against Turkey: October 15, Trump signed a decree on the introduction of sanctions for the conduct of offensive. At the same time, on October 9, American leader wrote a letter to his Turkish counterpart with a proposal of a “good deal”, since Erdogan does not want to be responsible for killing thousands of people, and Trump does not want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy. The head of the White House also urged his colleague not to be a “tough guy” or a “fool”. According to the BBC, Erdogan threw this message out. iz.ru