Turkey and the US have reached a deal whereby a ceasefire has been agreed in northern Syria to allow Kurdish-led forces to withdraw.
The announcement, made by US Vice-President Mike Pence, came after he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In a press conference following talks, Mr Pence said;
“The Turkish side will pause Operation Peace Spring in order to allow for the withdrawal of YPG forces from the safe zone for 120 hours”
Turkey launched an offensive in Syria last week, as it attempted to push back the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF are a Kurdish-led militia that is viewed as a terrorist group by the Turkish state.
The ceasefire is only thought to be temporary – Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that the offensive in Syria would only be ended when the SDF left the border zone.
