US lifting sanctions after Turks promise ‘permanent ceasefire’
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he was lifting sanctions on Turkey after Ankara informed his administration that it was making the ceasefire with Syria “permanent”.
Sanctions were announced by the US on October 14 after Turkey invaded areas held by Kurdish militias in northeastern Syria, which had followed Trump’s withdrawal of American troops deployed in the area.
The ceasefire would impact what is now called the safe zone on the Syria-turkey border, which was earlier held by Syrian Kurds - allies of the US in the battle against Islamic State (IS).
Turkey and Russia, which began to jointly patrol the area last week, will now control this territory.
“Let someone else fight over this long-bloodstained sand,” Trump said. He has ascribed his decision to exit the region - and plans to leave Afghanistan - to his election promise of ending “endless wars” and bringing American troops home.
Some of the US forces withdrawn from these areas previously held by Kurds will stay in the region to guard oil facilities, Trump said.
‘100 IS PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED IN SYRIA’
More than 100 prisoners of the IS group have escaped in Syria in the chaos since Turkey’s incursion, a senior US official said.
“We would say the number is now over 100. We do not know where they are,” James Jeffrey, the US state department pointman on Syria, told the House foreign affairs committee when asked about the detainees.