BALADI NEWS
President Donald Trump hailed a five-day cease-fire in northern Syria announced by Vice President Mike Pence, even as Turkey disputed the term and said a pause in Ankara’s military operations depended on Kurdish forces leaving a safe zone.
“This is an amazing outcome,” Trump said after landing in Texas, where he will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a Louis Vuitton MC, -0.89% plant and hold an evening rally.
Pence announced that the U.S. and Turkey had agreed to the cease-fire to allow for a Kurdish withdrawal from a security zone roughly 20 miles south of the Turkish border, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the pause was contingent upon Kurdish-led forces leaving the safe-zone area, the collection of heavy weapons and the destruction of fortifications, the Wall Street Journal wrote.
On Wednesday, two-thirds of House Republicans joined with Democrats in voting to denounce Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria. Trump has weathered heavy criticism for what lawmakers have described as betraying the Kurds, who fought alongside U.S. troops against ISIS.
Source: MarketWatch.