Erdogan agrees to 5-day Syria ceasefire

Ankara claims victory in deal by Pence, Pompeo

WASHINGTON • The U.S. Thursday announced Turkey had agreed to a 120-hour ceasefire in northeast Syria to allow Kurdish fighters to withdraw from the region, effectively endorsing the aims of the Turkish offensive.

Mike Pence, the U.S. vice president, said the Trump administration had also agreed not to implement the “massive” new sanctions it had been threatening over the assault and even promised to lift those imposed this week if the ceasefire holds.

Turkey has committed to a permanent ceasefire after the Kurdish retreat, but has made no promises to withdraw its fighters.

The deal was struck after Pence and Mike Pompeo, the U.S. secretary of state, held talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, in Ankara.

He was forced to fend off accusations that the deal amounted to a “second betrayal” of the Kurds. A Turkish official told Reuters that Turkey “got exactly what we wanted out of the meeting.”

Kurdish forces were not party to the agreement, though Pence said that America had already begun to facilitate the withdrawal of YPG forces.

Trump endorsed the deal from afar, tweeting that it was “good news.”

He went on: “This deal could never have been made three days ago. There needed to be some ‘tough’ love in order to get it done. Great for everybody. Proud of all!”

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, said the country’s military operation would only fully be halted once all Kurdish forces had gone.

At the heart of the agreement is a 20-mile wide strip of Syrian land that borders Turkey that had been held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and where Turkey has said it wants to create a “safe zone” free of Kurdish forces.

Pence said America supports Erdogan’s plan. He also claimed to have talked to YPG leaders who had “greatly welcomed” the deal.

The agreement came the day after copies of a letter that Trump sent to Erdogan last week were released by the White House.

It used a combination of exhortation laced with threats to persuade Erdogan to reverse a decision to invade Syria that the Turkish leader told Trump about in an Oct. 6 phone call.

“History will look upon you favourably if you get this done the right and humane way. It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!” Trump wrote.

Turkish officials said Erdogan threw the letter in the trash and ordered the attack to begin.