This archive report was first published on 18 October 2019.
On October 17, 2019, US Vice President Mike Pence announced that Turkey had agreed to suspend its Syria offensive for five days and end it if Kurdish forces withdrew from a 'safe zone' along the border, following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The deal was seen as a potential breakthrough in the crisis, but critics were quick to express their doubts. Nicholas Danforth, a fellow for the German Marshall Fund, said the US and Turkey had 'reached a deal that both can try to sell to domestic audiences as a victory, but will have little impact on the ground.'
US President Donald Trump welcomed the deal, calling it a 'great day' for the US, Turkey, and the Kurds, and heaping praise on Erdogan, saying he 'did the right thing.'
However, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who had been poised to introduce tough sanctions against Turkey in the Senate, expressed caution, saying 'Sounds like we may have made real progress regarding a cease-fire and hopefully a sustainable solution that will prevent the reemergence of ISIS and the abandonment of our ally, the Kurds.'
But Graham also stressed that he does not trust Erdogan and was 'going to keep working' to get the sanctions bill to the Senate floor.
Senator Jim Risch, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praised the deal, saying 'any time you can broker a disengagement it's a good thing.'
However, Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was less impressed, saying 'Other than giving Kurds a chance to leave so they don't get slaughtered, it doesn't sound like a change of any of the other dynamics I'm concerned about.'
Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, issued a scathing statement, saying Erdogan had 'given up nothing, and President Trump has given him everything.'
