Vice President Mike Pence Announces Turkey Has Agreed to a 5-Day Ceasefire

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Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday that the U.S. has brokered a deal in which Turkey agreed to halt its military operations in Syria for the next five days, creating a cease-fire that will allow Kurdish forces to withdraw from the Turkey-Syria border, potentially ending the conflict that began on Oct. 9.

"It will be a pause in military operations for 120 hours," Pence told reporters at a news conference following a lengthy meeting with Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. U.S. military foces will aid the Kurds in their retreat away from the Turkey-Syrian border.

The ceasefire comes following President Trump's order for U.S. troops to withdraw from the country, leaving the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG vulnerable to Turkish forces. The move was widely condemned by both Democrats and Republicans, who voted on Wednesday 354-60 to condemn Trump's order to withdraw U.S. forces from the region.

Trump took to Twitter shortly after the deal was announced, saying "tough" love was needed to get it done.

"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!" Trump wrote.

Trump followed up his tweet with a second ten minutes later, writing that it was a "great day for civilization."

"This is a great day for civilization. I am proud of the United States for sticking by me in following a necessary, but somewhat unconventional, path. People have been trying to make this “Deal” for many years. Millions of lives will be saved. Congratulations to ALL!" Trump added.

This is a breaking news story, more details will be added as they become available.

Photo: Getty Images


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