Washington demands to abide by the truce and stresses withdrawal from Syria

Washington demands to abide by the truce and stresses withdrawal from Syria
2019-10-19T10:06:30+00:00

Shafaq News/The US administration expressed hope that the Turks and Kurds would abide by the ceasefire agreement announced in Syria, while stressing the continued withdrawal of US forces from northern Syria.

Although the US President described the situation in Syria as extremely fragile, Donald Trump stressed that there is a genuine desire from the Turks and Kurds for a successful ceasefire.

Trump explained that Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed during a telephone call his intention to implement the ceasefire.

 For his part, US Secretary of State ,Mike Pompeo confirmed after a meeting with the Secretary of NATO that the Turkish and Kurdish sides must take the commitments they have made seriously.

While NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed hope that the declaration of a ceasefire would help calm the situation on the ground.

The US Defense Secretary ,Mark Esper transferred to his Turkish counterpart, the keen to abide by the agreement, calling for the need to adhere to the safety of civilians in areas controlled by Turkish forces.

The US military continues to carry out its withdrawal from northeastern Syria in a deliberate manner, he said, denying the involvement of US ground forces in establishing a safe zone in Syria.

Esper's comments follow Erdogan's announcement that Ankara plans to set up 12 monitoring sites in northeastern Syria, stressing that the planned "safe zone" will extend much more than that, mentioned by the US officials   in a fragile ceasefire agreement.

Less than 24 hours after he agreed to a five-day truce to allow Kurdish troops to withdraw, Erdogan stressed Ankara's continued efforts to establish a presence of about 440 kilometers inside the Syrian border.

The truce, announced by US Vice President Mike Pence, calls for a five-day cessation of hostilities to allow the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to withdraw from the "safe area" controlled by Turkish forces.

Despite the complexity of the crisis in northern Syria, the parties to the conflict are keen to abide by the ceasefire agreement, which some see as largely satisfactory to most parties.

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