{"id":58919,"date":"2019-10-17T18:39:03","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T18:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/17\/turkey-agrees-to-5-day-cease-fire-in-syria-pence-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:57:39","slug":"turkey-agrees-to-5-day-cease-fire-in-syria-pence-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/17\/turkey-agrees-to-5-day-cease-fire-in-syria-pence-says\/","title":{"rendered":"US hails Turkish cease-fire; Kurds must vacate border area"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ANKARA, Turkey \u2014 The U.S. and Turkey agreed Thursday to a cease-fire in the Turks\u2019 deadly attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, requiring the Kurds to vacate the area in an arrangement that largely solidifies Turkey\u2019s position and aims in the weeklong conflict. The deal includes a conditional halt to American economic sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After negotiations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence hailed the five-day cease-fire as the way to end the bloodshed caused by Turkey\u2019s invasion. He remained silent on whether it amounted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/opinion\/2019\/10\/16\/another-former-centcom-general-weighs-in-with-displeasure-over-trumps-syria-gambit\/\" target=_blank>a second abandonment of America\u2019s former Kurdish allies<\/a> in the fight against the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turkish troops and Turkish-backed Syrian fighters launched their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/opinion\/2019\/10\/16\/another-former-centcom-general-weighs-in-with-displeasure-over-trumps-syria-gambit\/\" target=_blank>offensive against Kurdish forces<\/a> in northern Syria a week ago, two days after President Donald Trump suddenly announced he was withdrawing the U.S. military from the area. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/opinion\/editorials\/2019\/10\/08\/the-commander-who-oversaw-isis-defeat-is-disappointed-by-syria-withdrawal\/\" target=_blank>Trump was widely criticized<\/a> for turning on the Kurds, who had taken heavy casualties as partners with the U.S. in fighting IS extremists since 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the United States had accepted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/09\/08\/to-set-up-safe-zone-us-wades-into-muddled-syria-politics\/\" target=_blank>the idea of a \u201csafe zone\u201d <\/a>long pushed by Turkey, and he insisted Turkish armed forces will control the zone. He also made clear that Turkey will not stop at a previously limited zone; he said Turkish control of the Syrian side of the border must extend all the way to the Iraqi border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commander of Kurdish-led forces in Syria, Mazloum Abdi, told Kurdish TV, \u201cWe will do whatever we can for the success of the cease-fire agreement.\u201d But one Kurdish official, Razan Hiddo, declared that Kurdish people would refuse to live under Turkish occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"916\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19290561944118.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Erdogan, Pence\" class=\"wp-image-43900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19290561944118.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19290561944118.jpg.jpg?resize=300,229 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19290561944118.jpg.jpg?resize=768,586 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19290561944118.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,782 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Turkey&#8217;s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, talks with U.S Vice President Mike Pence during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. (Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump had no reservations, hailing \u201ca great day for civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEverybody agreed to things that three days ago they would have never agreed to,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cThat includes the Kurds. The Kurds are now much more inclined to do what has to be done. Turkey is much more inclined to do what has to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump seemed to endorse the Turkish aim of ridding the Syrian side of the border of the Kurdish fighters whom Turkey deems to be terrorists but who fought against IS on behalf of the U.S. \u201cThey had to have it cleaned out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leading U.S. lawmakers were less pleased than Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Mitt Romney, the Republicans\u2019 presidential nominee in 2012, said he welcomed the cease-fire but wanted to know what America\u2019s role in the region would be and why Turkey was facing no consequences for its invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFurther, the cease-fire does not change the fact that America has abandoned an ally,\u201d he said on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was not clear whether the deal means the U.S. military will play a role in enabling or enforcing the cease-fire. Pence said the U.S. would \u201cfacilitate\u201d the Kurds\u2019 pullout, but he did not say if that would include the use of American troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon had no immediate comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2019\/10\/16\/what-it-means-for-us-bases-in-syria-to-be-occupied-by-syrian-and-russian-forces\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1166774862.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">What it means for American bases in Syria to be occupied by Syrian and Russian forces<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">As U.S. forces make a grab for the exit in a hurry, reports and video coming in suggest U.S. troops are dumping equipment and leaving bases in tact while stripping sensitive items.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Pence was speaking in Ankara, U.S. troops were continuing to board aircraft leaving northern Syria. Officials said a couple of hundred had already departed, with hundreds more consolidated at a few bases waiting to move out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump confidant who has criticized the president\u2019s pullout, said he thinks U.S. troops will be needed as part of an effort to implement and enforce a halt to the fighting. \u201cThere\u2019s just no way around it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to maintain control of the skies\u201d and work with the Kurds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the cease-fire seemed likely to temporarily slow legislation in Congress aimed at punishing Turkey and condemning Trump\u2019s U.S. troop withdrawal, lawmakers gave no sign of completely dropping the measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly before the announcement of the pause in hostilities, Graham and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., introduced legislation that would bar U.S. military aid to Turkey, seek to curb foreign arms sales to Ankara and impose sanctions on top Turkish officials unless Turkey withdraws its forces. Those sanctions would include a report on Erdogan\u2019s family assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In contrast with Pence\u2019s description of a limited safe zone, the agreement would effectively create a zone of control patrolled by the Turkish military that Ankara wants to stretch for the entire border from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border, though the agreement did not define the extent of the zone. Turkish forces currently control about a quarter of that length, captured in the past nine days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1043\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1176191248.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Turkey-backed Syrian fighters\" class=\"wp-image-97179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1176191248.jpg.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1176191248.jpg.jpg?resize=300,209 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1176191248.jpg.jpg?resize=768,534 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1176191248.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,712 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Turkey-backed Syrian fighters hold a position across from the key Syrian border town of Ras al-Ain on Oct. 16, 2019, as smoke billows above the town during the ongoing assault by Turkey and its allies on Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria. (Nazeer Al-khatib\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rest is held by the Kurdish-led forces or by the Syrian government military, backed by Russia, which the Kurds invited to move in to shield them from the Turks. None of those parties has much reason to let Turkish forces into the areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ankara has long argued the Kurdish fighters are nothing more than an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has waged a guerrilla campaign inside Turkey since the 1980s and which Turkey, as well as the U.S. and European Union, designate as a terrorist organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, Turkey&#8217;s foreign minister rejected the term &#8220;cease-fire,&#8221; saying that would be possible only with a legitimate second party. He suggested a &#8220;pause&#8221; in fighting instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who took part in the negotiations, lauded the deal. A senior administration official said the American team sensed a breakthrough, after listening to Erdogan repeatedly reject a ceasefire, when the Turkish president finally asked how long it would take to get the Kurdish fighters out of the so-called safe zone. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations, said the U.S. was in touch with the Kurds throughout the negotiations, including about the speed of the withdrawal and the need for a halt in Kurdish long-range artillery fire into Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the agreement essentially gives the Turks what they had sought to achieve with their military operation in the first place. After the Kurdish forces are cleared from the safe zone, Turkey has committed to a permanent cease-fire but is under no obligation to withdraw its troops. In addition, the deal gives Turkey relief from sanctions the administration had imposed and threatened to increase, meaning there will be no penalty for the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brett McGurk, the former civilian head of the administration&#8217;s U.S.-led counter-IS campaign, wrote on Twitter that Thursday&#8217;s deal was a gift to the Turks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe US just ratified Turkey\u2019s plan to effectively extend its border 30km into Syria with no ability to meaningfully influence facts on the ground,\u201d he wrote, adding that the arrangement was \u201cnon-implementable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, tweeted, &#8220;This is a respite while we surrender to Turkish domination of Northeast Syria.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Erdogan had stated on Wednesday that he would be undeterred by U.S. sanctions. He said the fighting would end only if Kurdish fighters abandoned their weapons and retreated from positions near the Turkish border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the talks, the Kurds indicated they would object to any agreement along the lines of what was announced by Pence. But Pence maintained that the U.S. had obtained \u201crepeated assurances from them that they\u2019ll be moving out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s withdrawal of U.S. troops has been widely condemned, including by Republican officials not directly associated with his administration. Republicans and Democrats in the House, bitterly divided over the Trump impeachment inquiry, banded together Wednesday for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2019\/10\/16\/bipartisan-house-majority-condemns-trump-for-syria-pullout\/\" target=_blank>an overwhelming 354-60 denunciation<\/a> of the U.S. troop withdrawal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/16\/trump-says-us-troops-are-totally-safe-amid-growing-chaos-in-syria\/\" target=\"_blank\">Trump has denied <\/a>that his action provided a \u201cgreen light\u201d for Turkey to move against the longtime U.S. battlefield partners or that he was opening the way for a revival of the Islamic State group, new Russian influence in the region and increased worldwide doubts about U.S. faithfulness to its allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The White House released a letter on Wednesday in which Trump warned Erdogan that the sanctions could destroy his economy and that the world \u201cwill look upon you forever as the devil if good things don\u2019t happen. Don\u2019t be a tough guy. Don\u2019t be a fool!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Erdogan, too, heard global condemnation for his invasion, he also faced renewed nationalistic fervor at home, and any pathway to de-escalation likely needed to avoid embarrassing him domestically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>AP National Security Writer Robert Burns reported from Washington. AP writers Deb Riechmann, Alan Fram, Darlene Superville, Lolita C. Baldor, Jill Colvin, Kevin Freking and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. and Turkey agreed Thursday to a cease-fire in the Turks\u2019 deadly attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, requiring the Kurds to vacate the area in an arrangement that largely solidifies Turkey\u2019s position and aims in the weeklong conflict. The deal includes a conditional halt to American economic sanctions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":97175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,13,24,89,16,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2444,1211],"class_list":["post-58919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2YQRFOVQY5GOBD3DENL3E4OUPI","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/17\/turkey-agrees-to-5-day-cease-fire-in-syria-pence-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US hails Turkish cease-fire; Kurds must vacate border area - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The U.S. and Turkey agreed Thursday to a cease-fire in the Turks\u2019 deadly attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, requiring the Kurds to vacate the area in an arrangement that largely solidifies Turkey\u2019s position and aims in the weeklong conflict. The deal includes a conditional halt to American economic sanctions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US hails Turkish cease-fire; Kurds must vacate border area\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. and Turkey agreed Thursday to a cease-fire in the Turks\u2019 deadly attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, requiring the Kurds to vacate the area in an arrangement that largely solidifies Turkey\u2019s position and aims in the weeklong conflict. The deal includes a conditional halt to American economic sanctions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/17\/turkey-agrees-to-5-day-cease-fire-in-syria-pence-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Air Force TImes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-17T18:39:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T10:57:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Burns, The Associated Press, Zeke Miller, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert Burns, The Associated Press, Zeke Miller, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/17\\\/turkey-agrees-to-5-day-cease-fire-in-syria-pence-says\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/17\\\/turkey-agrees-to-5-day-cease-fire-in-syria-pence-says\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"US hails Turkish cease-fire; 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