Turkish foreign minister completely undermines Mike Pence’s ‘ceasefire’ spin on northeastern Syria

AlterNet logoWith President Donald Trump withdrawing U.S. troops from northeastern Syria and abandoning the United States’ Kurdish allies, Turkish forces are making an incursion into that area just as critics of the U.S. withdrawal predicted they would. A U.S. delegation including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday met for four hours with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday. At a press conference following the meeting Pence, claimed Turkey agreed to a “ceasefire” in northeastern Syria. But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in a separate press conference made it clear that a “ceasefire” isn’t what the Turkish government and Erdoğan have in mind.

Speaking in Ankara, Turkey, Cavusoglu told reporters, “This is not a stopping of the operation. This is not a ceasefire because a ceasefire takes place between two legitimate parties.”

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”We agree on collecting YPG heavy weapons, destroying their positions, fortifications” – Turkey’s Foreign Minister Cavusoglu

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“Pause in Turkey’s operation in Syria is not a cease-fire, cease-fire can only happen between two legitimate sides” – Turkey’s Cavusoglu

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View the complete October 17 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Esper confirms Trump ordered larger withdrawal of US forces from Syria

The Hill logoDefense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed Sunday that President Trump has ordered a larger withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeastern Syria than was previously indicated.

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Esper said the U.S. has withdrawn about 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria since an initial smaller withdrawal of troops.

Trump made the decision to increase the withdrawal amid reports that Turkey will expand its offensive “further south than originally planned and to the west,” Esper told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Sunday.

View the complete October 13 article by Zack Budryk on The Hill website here.

U.S. forces say Turkey was deliberately ‘bracketing’ American troops with artillery fire in Syria

Washington Post logoTurkish forces that launched multiple artillery rounds near a U.S. Special Operations outpost in northeastern Syria on Friday have known for months that Americans were there, according to four current and former U.S. officials, raising questions whether Turkey is trying to push American troops farther from the border.

The incident occurred on a hilltop base overlooking the town of Kobane as Turkey continues an operation launched Wednesday against Syrian Kurds, some of whom the United States has partnered with for years in its campaign against the Islamic State. The incursion has focused on an area 60 miles west of Kobane, but U.S. officials contend Turkey has long-term aspirations to control a much larger swath of Syria.

The rounds landed about 9 p.m. within a few hundred yards of the base on Mistenur Hill, U.S. officials said. Navy Capt. Brook DeWalt, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that U.S. troops “came under artillery fire” but were unharmed and that there was an explosion.

View the complete October 12 article by Dan Lamothe on The Washington Post website here.