President Trump says Turkey has agreed to make the ceasefire on the Syria-Turkish border permanent. Speaking at the White House yesterday, Trump also announced that U.S. sanctions against Turkey are being lifted.
And while he reserved the right to reimpose sanctions, if necessary – he also cheered the agreement which he says will make the volatile region more stable. Along the way, he defended his recent decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria, a move that prompted fierce, bipartisan criticism in Congress. He offered, "Let someone else fight over this long-bloodstained sand."
A number of lawmakers are responding to the news...including Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, who says he’s hopeful that the permanent ceasefire will hold. Still, Graham adds, Syria, Russia and Turkey “cannot be trusted to protect the United States from ISIS.” He added that without U.S. troops in Syria, the fight against ISIS will continue as they are likely to return to the region.
To that end, a number of people are saying that the President’s victory lap isn’t his to take – it’s Turkey’s...and Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the terms of the deal, Syrian Kurds will leave what had been a buffer zone at the Turkey-Syria border...and Turkey will maintain control of the area set aside in the ceasefire it reached with the US (something Turkey wanted from the jump). Russia and Syria will secure the rest – and experts point out that all this is what Putin has wanted all along.
Source: White House