Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have recently come to an agreement with Turkey about the country’s current invasion in Syria. There will be a temporary ceasefire for Syrians to ‘escape’ the Turkish safe zone.
Turkey is currently being invaded by the Kurdish fighters of Syria, who are trying to protect their land and people of northeast Syria. The Turkish troops are aiming to remove the opposing forces for their possible “safe zone,” a place where millions of Syrian refugees can be returned.
This major movement stemmed from the U.S. backing their troops from northeast Syria, leaving its ally against ISIS, The Syrian Democratic Forces. Pence met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday, 10/17 to discuss ‘pausing’ the debacle between Turkey and Syria.
President Erdogan agreed, and has issued a ceasefire in their invasion of the Syrian troops allowing a 120-hour break for Kurdish allies to withdraw from the safe zone. Erdogan also agreed to not engage in any military action in order to protect the Kurdish’s human and religious rights.
The U.S. has agreed not to place any new sanctions and to end any if the ceasefire holds. President Donald Trump made a statement in Texas stating, “We’ve gotten everything we’ve ever dreamed of,” and how happy the “Kurds” are.
This contradicts his earlier statement that the dispute is “none of the US’s business” (Business Insider). According to CBS News, Trump also claims that Turkey needed some ‘rough love’ to find a solution. He also states “We shouldn’t be losing lives over it [an issue at Turkey’s border]”
This is not a new war between Turkey and Syria. The Kurdish are an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has been a terrorist organization since the 1980s.
According to Pence, although the U.S. currently does not have troops in Turkey, we “will continue to engage diplomatically,” (CBS News), once again contradicting Trump’s message.
