US Vice President Mike Pence, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the commander of the Kurdish SDF forces agreed to a five-day cease-fire in the military offensive in northeastern Syria.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Akif Parlak
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US Vice President Mike Pence and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to a five-day cease-fire in the military incursion into northeastern Syria.
"Today the United States and Turkey have agreed to a cease-fire in Syria," Pence said.
The initial cease-fire will last 120 hours to allow Kurdish forces to move away from Turkey's border and allow for negotiations toward a permanent end to the conflict.
"The safe zone will be primarily enforced by the Turkish Armed Forces," a US-Turkish statement released after the talks said. US President Donald Trump said the agreement would save "millions of lives."
Following the agreement, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic forces (SDF) Mazlum Abdi told the Kurdish Ronahi television station "we are ready to abide by the cease-fire" covering the area from Ras al-Ain to Tal Abyad.
However, he expressed uncertainty over other parts along the border that Turkey wants to include in the safe zone.
EU reaction
Following the cease-fire announcement, EU leaders repeated their call for Turkey to end its offensive on Kurdish forces in Syria and withdraw its troops.
"The European Council notes tonight's US-Turkey announcement on a pause for all military operations. It again urges Turkey to end its military action, to withdraw its forces and to respect international humanitarian law," the leaders said in a summit statement.
A 'safe zone' in Syria
Scheduled for just 10 minutes, the meeting between Pence and Erdogan lasted about an hour and a half. Pompeo and other officials were to hold talks with their Turkish counterparts. Erdogan initially refused to meet the US delegation, saying he would only speak to Trump, before backtracking.
Turkey launched its long-threatened military operation in northeastern Syria last week, targeting a US-backed Kurdish-led militia alliance after the United States withdrew from the border.
Ankara views the Kurdish YPG, the main component of the SDF, as a terrorist group linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought a nearly four-decade war for Kurdish rights against the Turkish state.
Erdogan said he wanted to defeat the YPG and create a 32-kilometer-deep, 480-kilometer-long (20-mile by 300-mile) "safe zone" inside Syria along the border to protect its security and provide room to resettle millions of war refugees now in Turkey.
Who are the major players in northern Syria?
The US withdrawal of troops from Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria and the launch of the Turkish offensive have created a complicated web of actors, from Russia to Syrian government troops.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS/Staff Sgt. A. Goedl
US: Troop pullback
Over the past years, US troops have supported Kurdish fighters as they battled radical "Islamic State" (IS) militants to take back control of large areas of northern Syria. In what was seen as a surprising turnaround, US President Donald Trump announced in early October that he was withdrawing US troops from the region's border with Turkey. This pullback left a vacuum for others to act and react.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS/Staff Sgt. A. Goedl
Turkey: Anti-Kurdish offensive
Trump's troop withdrawal was a de-facto go-ahead for Turkey to launch an offensive into northeast Syria. The region is home to a largely autonomous Kurdish population and Kurdish militants known as the YPG, who are tied to an outlawed Kurdish party in Turkey. Turkey, who has faced a Kurdish insurgency, sees the Syrian Kurds as a threat to its security, hence the military action.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Akif Parlak
Kurdish YPG: Fighting Turkish forces
The YPG was one of the US' main allies in the fight to drive out IS from north Syria, but since October it has been fighting the Turkish forces that crossed into Syria. The YPG lacks strong air capabilities and defenses, putting it at a decided disadvantage in comparison to the Turkish army.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Souleiman
SDF: Betrayed by the US
The YPG is the largest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which also includes Arab and Christian militias. The SDF, which fought IS, controls northeastern Syria and feels betrayed by the US pullback. It is now fighting Turkish troops and their allies. It has warned that the Turkish offensive could distract from making sure IS fighters do not renew their strength in Syria.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Souleiman
Syrian government army: Deal made
The relationship between Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops and the SDF is a tricky one that shifts between cooperation, live-and-let-live and skirmishes, depending on the current situation. After Turkey launched its offensive, the Kurds struck a deal with the government that saw Syrian troops mobilized to fight the Turkish forces, allowing them to enter a region they had ceded to the SDF.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Russia: Stepping up, stepping in
Russia has consistently backed the government of Syrian President Assad (L, with Putin in 2018) and assisted its forces. After US troops pulled out of the Kurdish areas, Russia moved its troops in to act as a buffer for Syrian government forces advancing towards the Turkish army. Moscow wants Syria to remain united and has accused the US of creating parallel structures in the Kurdish region.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Klimentyev
SNA: Turkey's Syrian allies
Turkey also has allies among Syrian fighters. The Syrian National Army (SNA), also known as the Free Syrian Army, is a Syrian rebel group that has fought against the SDF and Assad's government. Backed by Turkey, SNA fighters took part in previous Turkish offensives against Kurdish militias inside Syria. Currently, thousands of SNA fighters are fighting the YPG alongside Turkish forces.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/B. Kasim
IS: A renewed role?
One possible future actor is IS. While it was essentially defeated in March 2019, tens of thousands of its fighters and their families remain in prisons or guarded camps in the Kurdish area of the country. Nearly a thousand alone have already escaped from a camp that was caught in the fighting between Kurdish militias and Turkish forces. Should the situation grow more unstable, IS could regroup.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Alleruzzo
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Sharp criticism
Critics have accused Trump of ditching Washington's Syrian Kurdish partners who had fought against the "Islamic State" (IS). On Sunday, the US announced that it was withdrawing its entire force of 1,000 troops from northern Syria.
Trump defended his move on Wednesday and called it "strategically brilliant." He also denied having approved Turkey's actions in Syria in any way.
But the US president has faced intense criticism — both abroad and domestic — over his actions in Syria.
Fighting the domestic political damage and perhaps trying to demonstrate the president's efforts to stop the offensive, the White House, released a letter sent by Trump to Erdogan on October 9. "Don't be a tough guy," the US president told his Turkish counterpart. "Don't be a fool!" he wrote.
"Friends let their feelings be known," Pence said on Thursday. "President Trump did that in this case. But it facilitated an agreement that has now led to a cease-fire."
