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Syrian Troops Advance Across Northern Syria After Deal with Kurds

HeadlineOct 15, 2019

Syrian troops have advanced across northern Syria, after the Syrian regime struck a deal to protect the Kurds from Turkey’s deadly air and ground assault. The deal comes after the United States pulled its troops out of northern Syria, paving the way for the Turkish offensive. On Monday, the U.S. announced it was imposing sanctions against Turkey over the military offensive, and called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to implement an immediate ceasefire. Vice President Mike Pence and national security adviser Robert O’Brien will soon travel to Turkey. This is Pence speaking Monday.

Vice President Mike Pence: “President Erdogan reached out and requested the call. And President Trump communicated to him very clearly that the United States of America wants Turkey to stop the invasion, to implement an immediate ceasefire and to begin to negotiate with Kurdish forces in Syria to bring an end to the violence.”

The New York Times is reporting that U.S. State and Energy Department officials have been considering plans to evacuate the approximately 50 tactical nuclear weapons the United States stores at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. The Committee to Protect Journalists says a Turkish airstrike on a civilian convoy killed one journalist and wounded at least four others in northern Syria Sunday. The slain reporter, Saad Ahmed, was a Syrian Kurdish journalist for the local agency Hawar News. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least five other civilians were also killed in the Turkish airstrike. The invasion has forced over 100,000 civilians to flee the area, and has provoked international outrage. All 28 European Union member states have now agreed to stop selling arms to Turkey — an unprecedented step toward a NATO member.

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