Summ: Pence explained that military operations will stop for 120 hours.
“It will be a pause in military operations for 120 hours while the United States facilitates the withdrawal of YPG from the affected areas in the safe zone, and once that is completed, Turkey has agreed to a permanent cease fire, and the United States of America will work with Turkey, will work with nations around the world to ensure that peace and stability is the order of the day in this safe zone on the border between Syria and Turkey,” he said.
By Veronica Rocha, Fernando Alfonso III, Mike Hayes and Meg Wagner, CNN
Updated 9:45 p.m. ET, October 17, 2019
What we’re covering here
From CNN’s Betsy Klein
President Trump thanked Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for traveling to meet with President Erdogan in Turkey, casting the ceasefire as an example of his great dealmaking during a rally in Dallas tonight.
Trump said that what he did in the region was “unconventional.”
“Sometimes you have to let them fight a little while… right? Sometimes you have to let them fight. It’s like two kids in a lot, you got to let them fought and then you pull them apart,” Trump said of the conflict.
Some background: As CNN reported earlier tonight, the deal appears to secure Turkey most of its military objectives, forcing America’s one-time allies in the fight against ISIS— Kurdish forces—to cede a vast swath of territory, with one senior US official very familiar with operations in Syria telling CNN that the deal meant the US was “validating what Turkey did and allowing them to annex a portion of Syria and displace the Kurdish population.”
Syrian National Army spokesperson says it’s relying on the US to implement the agreement
From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Hira Humayun
The Syrian National Army (SNA), Turkish-backed Syrian rebels also known as the Free Syrian Army or FSA, said it views the agreement reached between the US and Turkey to halt the Turkish operation in Syria “in a positive way.”
The SNA said it is relying on the US to implement the agreement and guarantee that the Democratic Union Party “will do their part of the agreement,” Syrian National Army spokesperson Major Yousef Hamoud told CNN. The Democratic Union Party or PYD is the Syrian-based Kurdish opposition party whose armed wing is the Syrian-Kurdish YPG.
The US officials have described the agreement as a ceasefire. Turkey, however, does not consider it a ceasefire, but rather a 120-hour pause for Kurdish forces to withdraw from the safe zone. The SDF has called on Turkey to commit to the agreement.
“We are not an occupation force, but we are a liberation force and if the operation goals will be met in a peaceful way, then we are welcoming that,” Hamoud said.
US special envoy for Syria says the agreement covers areas where Turkey already entered
From CNN’s Jamie Crawford, Ryan Browne and Jennifer Hansler
James Jeffrey, the US Special Envoy for Syria, said the agreement that pauses Turkey’s military operation will be focused on “those areas where the Turks had penetrated into northeast Syria.”
The Kurdish forces who once allied with the US in the fight against ISIS will withdraw over the coming days, he said.
It still remains unclear how this agreement will be implemented, and what the situation in that area will look like in the future.
“The Turkish army has seized a great deal of territory in a very short period of time,” Jeffrey told reporters traveling with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Jeffrey also acknowledged the difficulty the Kurds face in the wake of the agreement.
Asked about the Turkish government’s assertion that the agreement was not a ceasefire agreement, Jeffrey said “we use the word ceasefire, the Turks do not because it’s not in the agreement. What we mean is, and we define this very carefully, a ceasefire is no forward movement of troops on the ground and no military action other than self-defense.”
Pelosi and Schumer blast decision to remove sanctions on Turkey
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, issued a statement this afternoon on President Trump’s decision to eliminate sanctions on Turkey in exchange for a ceasefire in Syria.
“President Trump is flailing. The President’s decision to reverse sanctions against Turkey for brutally attacking our Kurdish partners in exchange for a sham ceasefire seriously undermines the credibility of America’s foreign policy and sends a dangerous message to our allies and adversaries alike that our word cannot be trusted,” the lawmakers said.
Read the rest of their statement:
“President Erdogan has given up nothing, and President Trump has given him everything. The Turks have stated that ‘this is not a ceasefire,’ and made clear that they ‘will pause the operation for 120 hours in order for the terrorists to leave’ — referring to the courageous Kurdish fighters who have suffered nearly 11,000 casualties in our fight to defeat ISIS. This agreement also does nothing to stop thousands of ISIS prisoners from escaping, and shows the President’s complete lack of strategy to defeat ISIS. To say that Turkey and Syria will guard the prisoners is outrageous and puts our homeland security at risk. ISIS is still a threat, certainly now more than before President Trump gave Erdogan the green light to invade Syria.
President Trump unleashed a further escalation of chaos and insecurity in Syria that has left dozens of innocent civilians dead, displaced hundreds of thousands more and invited the resurgence of ISIS. The only beneficiaries of the President’s policies are our adversaries: ISIS, Bashar al-Assad, Vladimir Putin and Iran. Today’s decision further makes the argument that President Trump doesn’t see Putin as the danger he is to our country.
Yesterday’s overwhelming bipartisan 354-60 vote in the House to oppose the President’s decision and demand a clear ISIS strategy yesterday was an important step, and the Senate should do the same immediately. Next week, the House will pass a strong, bipartisan sanctions package to work to reverse the humanitarian disaster that President Trump unleashed in Syria. Our service members, our allies and our partners all suffering from the Syrian conflict deserve smart, strong and sane leadership from Washington.”
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have instructions to stop military operations
From CNN’s Raja Razek
A commander with the Turkish-backed, rebel Syrian National Army (also called the Free Syrian Army) tells CNN they have received instructions to stop any military operations and stop advancing in Syria.
“I have now received instructions to stop any operation or advance. But, we are allowed to respond if fired upon by Kurdish units,” the commander said.
What we know: Vice President Mike Pence said Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in Syria. General Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said the SDF is ready to abide by the ceasefire and will do what is necessary to achieve it.
Syrian Democratic Forces call on Turkey to commit to ceasefire
From CNN’s CNN’s Raja Razek
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) called on Turkey to commit to the ceasefire in a statement today.
The statement, issued by the General Command of SDF, goes on to say that it will abide by the ceasefire, which went into effect at 3 p.m. ET.
Syrian Democratic Forces commander says they are ready to abide by the ceasefire
General Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said the SDF is ready to abide by the ceasefire and will do all that is necessary to achieve it, according to Syrian Democratic Council co-chair Majdoleen Hassan who sent CNN the interview transcript.
Abdi told Kurdish television channel Ronahi TV in a phone interview that the “US gave us guarantees,” after vowing the SDF would do all in their power to ensure a ceasefire.
About the ceasefire: Vice President Mike Pence said the US and Turkey reached an agreement to suspend the Turkish military offensive in Syria. The US will not impose further sanctions on Turkey as part of the agreement, he said.
Pence heads back to Washington after talks with Turkish president
Vice President Mike Pence’s has boarded Air Force Two in Ankara, Turkey, following five hours of talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
What we know: Pence said Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in Syria. But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the agreement between the US and Turkey is not a ceasefire.
“We will pause, this is not a ceasefire. A ceasefire can only be between two legitimate entities,” he said.
US official says this is the US “essentially validating what Turkey did”
From CNN’s Ryan Browne
The deal made with Turkey is “essentially validating” the Turkish offensive, a senior US official told CNN.
“This is essentially the US validating what Turkey did and allowing them to annex a portion of Syria and displace the Kurdish population,” the official said.
The official continued:
“This is what Turkey wanted and what POTUS green lighted. I do think one reason Turkey agreed to it is because of the Kurds have put up more of a resistance and they could not advance south any further as a result. If we don’t impose sanctions then Turkey wins big time.”
Trump calls the ceasefire an “incredible outcome”
President Trump, speaking this afternoon from the tarmac at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Forth Worth, called the US-announced ceasefire in Turkey an “incredible outcome” that saved lives.
“When those guns start shooting, they tend to do things, but I will tell you, on behalf of the United States I want to thank Turkey, I want to thank all of the people that have gotten together and made this happen,” Trump said. “I want to thank everybody. And the other thing I want to thank as a group, I want to thank the Kurds, because they were incredibly happy with this solution. This is a solution that really — well it saved their lives, frankly. It saved their lives.”
However, Turkish foreign minister said this is “not a ceasefire” but said they will “pause the operation” in Syria.
About the terms of the ceasefire: As part of that agreement, the US convinced the Syrian Kurds/SDF to dismantle their defensive fortifications and pull troops from the border to appease Turkey.
The US also conducted joint patrols and shared intelligence with the Turkish military as part of that arrangement.
The Kurds complied with the request to pull back and dismantle their fortifications. Turkey opted to invade despite those efforts.
Watch here
Turkish foreign minister: “This is not a ceasefire”
From CNN’s Flora Charner
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the reached agreement between the US and Turkey to suspend military operations in Syria is not a ceasefire.
“This is not a ceasefire,” Cavusoglu said during a televised news conference today.
“We will pause the operation for 120 hours in order for the terrorists to leave,” Cavusoglu said. “We will only stop the operation if our conditions are met.”
Cavusoglu said a “safe zone” would need to be established at roughly 20 miles east of the Euphrates river to the Iraqi border.
Pence says Turkey raised Halkbank indictment after negotiations concluded
From CNN’s Sarah Westwood
Vice President Mike Pence said the topic of Halkbank, the state-owned Turkish bank that was indicted Tuesday, came up during ceasefire talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“When we concluded the negotiations, the topic was raised,” Pence said during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey. “We informed them that this was a matter for the Southern District of New York.”
CNN reported this week that Erdogan had previously urged President Trump in a phone call to drop a potential DOJ indictment into the state-owned Turkish bank Halkbank. Trump told Erdogan he would have his people look into it.
The US indicted Halkbank on Tuesday on charges related to evading sanctions on Iran.
Pence: The US will “continue to engage” in Syria, but “not militarily”
From CNN’s Nikki Carvajal, Sarah Westwood and Matthew Hoye
Vice President Mike Pence, speaking at a news conference on the ceasefire, said the United States will “continue to engage” in Syria, but “not militarily.”
“The President made it clear that we’re not going to have military personnel on the ground, but the United States will continue to engage diplomatically, politically and, of course, in humanitarian aid and support to effect all of the people affected in this region,” Pence said.
He said that the President had sent him to the region to “stop the violence.”
“We’ve achieved that. We’ve also achieved and opportunity by working with YPG to move out of the area to create more peace and security and stability in that buffer zone, and we’re going to be working very earnestly to accomplish that and believe that can be accomplished during the 120-hour period and after which they’ll be a permanent cease-fire,” Pence said.
And while Pence said the US did not support the Turkish military offensive, Trump enabled the Turks to enter Syria Sunday when he ordered US troops in Northern Syria to pull out of the region.
This ceasefire is similar to a previous agreement
From CNN’s Ryan Browne
The proposed ceasefire announced today seems extremely similar to the previous “Security Mechanism” agreement with Turkey earlier this year.
Here’s what you need to know about the earlier agreement: As part of that agreement, the US convinced the Syrian Kurds/SDF to dismantle their defensive fortifications and pull fighters troops from the border to appease Turkey. The US also conducted joint patrols and shared intelligence with the Turkish military as part of that arrangement.
The Kurds complied with the request to pull back and dismantle their fortifications. Turkey opted to invade despite those efforts.
Now that the US has pulled out of all locations in northern Syria lest Kobani, it will be nearly impossible for the US to monitor much less enforce a ceasefire.
Asked about the prospects of a ceasefire given the fate of the now defunct security mechanism agreement, a senior US administration official said recently:
“We are very aware that the Turks entered into an agreement with us and they then decided that they would pull out of that agreement and we’re very concerned about that happening again.”
“We got exactly what we wanted,” senior Turkish official says
From CNN’s Gul Tuysuz
Turkey got “exactly what they wanted” out of the meeting with Vice President Mike Pence, a senior Turkish official told CNN today.
Pence just announced that the US and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had agreed to a ceasefire in the Turkish military offensive into Syria. Pence said the Turkish operation would end when the YPG forces complete the withdrawal.
The senior Turkish official told CNN the “terrorists” would withdraw from the “safe zone” within five days and that Turkey would enforce the area after that. He also told CNN the “military operation paid off.”
Erdoğan is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, around the time the ceasefire would go into effect.
Pompeo and Pence met with Erdogan today
Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to address the situation in Syria.
The high-level US delegation included Pence, Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien.
It marked the first major meeting between the two countries since President Trump pulled US armed forces out of northern Syria. The pullback is widely seen as giving Erdogan room to act on his long-held goal of attacking the Kurds who fought for and with the US against ISIS.
Speaking of the reached agreement between the US and Turkey, Pence said, “We think this is an outcome that will greatly serve the interests the Kurdish population in Syria and greatly serve the interests of Turkey and create the kind of long-term buffer zone that will ensure peace and stability in the region.
US will not impose further sanctions on Turkey, Pence says
Vice President Mike Pence said at the news conference announcing a ceasefire in Syria that the United States will not impose further sanctions on Turkey as part of the agreement.
“Part of our understanding is that with the implementation of the ceasefire, the United States will not impose any further sanctions on Turkey,” Pence said. “And once a permanent ceasefire is in effect, the President has agreed to withdraw the economic sanctions that were imposed this last Monday.”
More background: On Monday, Trump said he was applying harsh new sanctions on certain Turkish officials. In a phone call with Turkish President President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Trump “could not have been more firm” in expressing his displeasure at the incursion, according to Pence, who updated reporters at the White House on Monday evening.
Pence: Trump is “very grateful” to Erdogan for ceasefire
Vice President Mike Pence said he spoke with President Trump and said he “knows President Trump is very grateful” to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for facilitating the ceasefire.
Pence said the agreement would “pause” the Turkish advance into Syria to allow the withdrawal of [Kurdish] YPG forces. He said the Turkish operation would end when the YPG forces completed the withdrawal.
There has been no public statement from YPG forces that have agreed to withdraw, although Pence said he had spoken with YPG leadership.
Mike Pence: US and Turkey agree to ceasefire in Syria
Vice President Mike Pence announced today that the US and Turkey reached a deal to suspend the Turkish military offensive in Syria.
“A week after Turkish forces crossed into Syria, Turkey and the United States of America have agreed to a cease fire in Syria,” Pence said at a news conference.
Pence explained that military operations will stop for 120 hours.
“It will be a pause in military operations for 120 hours while the United States facilitates the withdrawal of YPG from the affected areas in the safe zone, and once that is completed, Turkey has agreed to a permanent cease fire, and the United States of America will work with Turkey, will work with nations around the world to ensure that peace and stability is the order of the day in this safe zone on the border between Syria and Turkey,” he said.