Battle break Turkey against Kurds in Syria border

The United States and Turkey have reached an agreement on stopping the Turkish raid on the border with Syria. A five-day truce has been agreed. Turkey's offensive will not stop completely until the Kurdish YPG fighters have withdrawn. The Americans already say that they are preparing for a safe departure for the Kurdish militia.

Turkey does not speak of a ceasefire but of a temporary pause during the operation, and emphasizes that Ankara received permission from the US to create a & #8220; safe zone & #8221; in the border area. Pence says that such a zone is in the long-term interest of both parties. It is still unclear what Syria and Russia think about this.

Through the raid, Turkey hoped to secure a strip of about 225 kilometers long and 32 kilometers wide along the Turkish-Syrian border. They also want to send the several million Syrian refugees currently being taken care of in Turkey there.

The United States and Turkey have also agreed that the YPG must hand in all heavy weapons and that all their posts will be dismantled. It is not clear whether the agreements also relate to other Kurdish groups.

The United States will not impose further sanctions on Turkey because of the deal. The economic sanctions that were previously imposed are withdrawn as soon as the agreements are met.

The Turkish offensive in northeastern Syria began last Wednesday, shortly after Trump decided to remove US troops from that area. According to Pompeo, the United States did not give the green light for the raid.

Almost five hundred people have been killed since Wednesday, reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Thursday. It concerns 224 SDF fighters, 184 rebels supported by Turkey and 72 civilians. Due to the violence, around 200,000 inhabitants of the region have been displaced.