Halt in fighting within five days would allow Kurdish fighters to withdraw from designated 'safe zone' along Turkish border
International media report say Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in northern Syria to let Kurdish-led forces withdraw. The deal reportedly came after US Vice-President Mike Pence and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met for talks in Ankara yesterday.
Following a long meeting between top Turkish and American officials on Thursday, the two sides came to an agreement amid growing international and US opposition to the Turkish incursion into Syria.
Pence confirmed the agreement after the meeting ended. "Today the United States and Turkey have agreed to a ceasefire in Syria," he said.
All fighting will be paused for five days, and the US will help facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish-led troops from what Turkey terms a “safe zone” on the border, Mr. Pence said.
The demarcation line of the so-called "safe zone" is to run roughly 20 miles south of the Turkish border, Pence said.
The agreement stipulates that Kurdish militants, including the People's Protection Units (YPG), would have their heavy weapons collected and their fortifications and fighting positions disabled.
"We got exactly what we wanted out of the meeting," a senior Turkish official told a London-based online news outlet Middle East Eye (MEE).
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reportedly echoed the official's comment. "We got what we wanted. This is not a ceasefire. We only halt our operations," he said.
It is unclear if the Kurdish YPG will fully comply, however.
According to the BBC, Commander Mazloum Kobani said Kurdish-led forces would observe the agreement in the area between the border towns of Ras al-Ayin and Tal Abyad, where fighting has been fierce.
"We have not discussed the fate of other areas," he said.
Recall, Turkey launched the cross-border offensive last week, after US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling US forces out of the Syria-Turkey border region. Its goal was to push back a Kurdish militia group – the People's Protection Units (YPG) – that Turkey views as a terrorist organization.
Turkey had hoped to resettle up to two million Syrian refugees in the border area, but critics warned that could trigger ethnic cleansing of the local Kurdish population.
