Turkey, US agree ceasefire in northeast Syria

Turkey has agreed to a five-day ceasefire in northeast Syria to allow for withdrawal of Kurdish forces, U.S. following a meeting between US Vice President Mike Pence and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.

Mike Pence and president Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to a ceasefire in the military action in northeastern Syria.

Pence was accompanied in Ankara by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien.

Great news out of Turkey. News Conference shortly with @VP and @SecPompeo. Thank you to @RTErdogan. Millions of lives will be saved!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2019

Today the United States and Turkey have agreed to a ceasefire in Syria, Pence told a news conference after more than four hours of talks at the presidential palace in Ankara.

The initial ceasefire will last 120 hours to allow Kurdish forces to move away from Turkey's border and allow for negotiations toward a permanent end to the conflict.

This deal could NEVER have been made 3 days ago. There needed to be some “tough” love in order to get it done. Great for everybody. Proud of all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2019

Scheduled for just 10 minutes, the meeting between Pence and Erdogan lasted about an hour and a half.

Pompeo and other officials were to hold talks with their Turkish counterparts.