BALADI NEWS
President Donald Trump said he will lift sanctions on Turkey after Ankara promised a permanent ceasefire in northern Syria, in a speech defending his decision to withdraw American troops from the region.
Flanked by vice president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Mr Trump took credit for a Russia-backed truce between Ankara and Kurdish forces, saying that the United States had saved thousands of lives.
He later said that his country had spent $8 trillion (£6.2 trillion) on unsuccessful wars in the Middle East, where too many American service members had died. He vowed Washington would pursue “a different course”.
“The government of Turkey informed my administration that they would be stopping combat and their offensive in Syria ... I have therefore instructed the secretary of the treasury to lift all sanctions,” he said from the White House.
“We reserve the right to reimpose crippling sanctions should Turkey fail to honour its obligations,” he added.
Turkey launched a controversial cross-border incursion to push back Syrian Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria, where Ankara hopes to build a “buffer zone”.
Source: The Independent.