Turkey-Syria offensive
\nSyrian forces advanced north at the weekend following a deal with the Kurds to try to hold back the Turkish operation
\nONLINE
\nIstanbul
\nTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected a US call for an immediate ceasefire in northern Syria.
\nErdogan\u2019s comments come ahead of a visit to Turkey by the US vice-president and US secretary of state.
\nTurkey launched an offensive designed to drive away Kurdish troops after their main ally, the US, pulled out.
\nRussia, which backs Syria, has said it prevent clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces which have now moved into the area after a deal with the Kurds.
\nTurkey considers elements of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) a terrorist organisation and want to push them away from the border area.
\nAnkara also says it wants to create a \u201csafe zone\u201d reaching about 30km (20 miles) into Syria to resettle up to two million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey.
\nHowever, Syrian forces – which are backed by Russia – advanced north at the weekend following a deal with the Kurds to try to hold back the Turkish operation.
\nCritics of the Trump administration say the withdrawal of US troops from the region gave Turkey a \u201cgreen light\u201d for the offensive. The US has repeatedly denied this, and on Monday Washington announced sanctions on Turkish ministries and senior government officials.
\nDozens of civilians have been killed in the operation so far and at least 160,000 have fled the area, according to the UN.
\nOn Tuesday, the medical charity M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF) said it had \u201ctaken the difficult decision to suspend the majority of its activities and evacuate all its international staff from north-east Syria\u201d.
\n\u201cThey say \u2018declare a ceasefire\u2019. We will never declare a ceasefire,\u201d Erdogan told reporters on Tuesday. \u201cThey are pressuring us to stop the operation. They are announcing sanctions. Our goal is clear. We are not worried about any sanctions,\u201d the president added.
\nPresident Vladimir Putin has discussed the situation with Mr Erdogan in a phone call and invited him to Russia for a working visit \u201cin the coming days\u201d, the Kremlin announced on Wednesday.
\nErdogan is also expected to meet US Vice-President Mike Pence and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Thursday.
\nPence on Monday warned that the US sanctions against Turkey would worsen \u201cunless and until Turkey embraces an immediate ceasefire\u201d and negotiates a long-term settlement on the border.
\nUS President Donald Trump has faced mounting pressure to take action against Turkey – a key Nato partner – including from Republicans usually loyal to his administration.
\nSyrian government forces on Tuesday entered the strategic town of Manbij, inside the area where Turkey wants to create its \u201csafe zone\u201d.
\nMeanwhile, Turkish troops and pro-Turkish, anti-government fighters had also been gathering near Manbij.
\nOver the past two years, hundreds of US troops have visibly patrolled the strategic town, but they left earlier this week.
\nOn Tuesday, Russia – a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – said its forces were patrolling along the \u201cline of contact\u201d between Syrian and Turkish forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkey-Syria offensive Syrian forces advanced north at the weekend following a deal with the Kurds to try to hold back the Turkish operation ONLINE Istanbul Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected a US call for an immediate ceasefire in northern Syria. Erdogan\u2019s comments come ahead of a visit to Turkey by the US vice-president […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n