The truce was announced by US Vice President Mike Pence after talks in Ankara with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdoğan, and was swiftly hailed by President Donald Trump, who said it would save "millions of lives".

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

But if implemented it would achieve all the main objectives Turkey announced when it launched the assault eight days ago: control of a strip of Syria more than 30 km (20 miles) deep, with the Kurdish YPG militia, formerly close US allies, obliged to pull out.

"The safe zone will be primarily enforced by the Turkish Armed Forces," a joint US-Turkish statement released after the talks said.

A Turkish official told Reuters Ankara got "exactly what we wanted" from the talks with the United States. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described it as a pause, solely to allow the Kurdish fighters to withdraw.

Kurdish fighters would be forced to give up their heavy weapons and their positions would be destroyed, Cavusoglu said. He declined to call the agreement a "ceasefire", saying ceasefires could be agreed only by legitimate sides, and not by the Kurds that Turkey considers terrorists.

Pence said Washington had already been in contact with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which had agreed to withdraw and were already pulling out.

Trump tweeted: "Great news out of Turkey".

"Thank you to Erdoğan," Trump said. "Millions of lives will be saved!"

"Today the United States and Turkey have agreed to a ceasefire in Syria," Pence told a news conference after more than four hours of talks at the presidential palace in Ankara.

"The Turkish side will pause Operation Peace Spring in order to allow for the withdrawal of YPG forces from the safe zone for 120 hours," Pence said. "All military operations under Operation Peace Spring will be paused, and Operation Peace Spring will be halted entirely on completion of the withdrawal."

The deal struck with Erdoğan also provided for Turkey not to engage in military operations in the flashpoint Syrian border town of Kobani, Pence said. Cavusoglu said Turkey had given no commitments about Kobani.

Pence added that he had spoken to Trump after the talks and that Trump had expressed his gratitude for the ceasefire accord. Washington's main goal had been to halt the violence, and it had succeeded, Pence said.

The Turkish assault has created a new humanitarian crisis in Syria with 200,000 civilians taking flight, a security alert over thousands of Islamic State fighters abandoned in Kurdish jails, and a political maelstrom at home for Trump.

Trump has been accused of abandoning Kurdish-led fighters, Washington's main partners in the battle to dismantle Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in Syria, by withdrawing troops from the border as Ankara launched its offensive on Oct. 9.

Trump had defended his move on Wednesday as "strategically brilliant". He said he thought Pence and Erdoğan would have a successful meeting, but warned of sanctions and tariffs that "will be devastating to Turkey's economy" otherwise.

The post Turkey agrees with US to pause Syria assault while Kurds withdraw appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The comments come after an agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to fend off an assault launched by Turkey on northeastern Syria last week.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

 US Vice President Mike Pence met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey on Thursday on a mission to persuade him to halt an offensive against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, but Turkish officials said the action would continue regardless.

The assault has created a new humanitarian crisis in Syria with 200,000 civilians taking flight, a security alert over thousands of Islamic State fighters abandoned in Kurdish jails, and a political maelstrom at home for President Donald Trump.

Trump has been accused of abandoning Kurdish-led fighters, Washington's main partners in the battle to dismantle Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in Syria, by withdrawing troops from the border as Ankara launched its offensive on Oct. 9.

Trump defended his move on Wednesday as "strategically brilliant." He said he thought Pence and Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan would have a successful meeting, but warned of sanctions and tariffs that "will be devastating to Turkey's economy" otherwise.

The White House released a letter from Trump to Erdoğan from Oct. 9 that said: "Don't be a tough guy" and "Don't be a fool!" Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk said Turkey had rejected Trump's appeal to reach a deal to avoid conflict and the letter was "thrown in the trash".

A Turkish official told Reuters: "The letter Trump sent did not have the impact he expected in Turkey because it had nothing to take seriously.

"What is clear is that Turkey does not want a terrorist organization on its border and the operation will not stop because of the reaction that has been coming."

The post Syria warns Turkey it will use 'all legitimate means' against invasion appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Pompeo, in an interview on Fox Business Network, said the US delegation's goal was to find a resolution to the situation in Syria, not break the US-Turkey relationship.

"We have every expectation that we will meet with President Erdogan," Pompeo told the network, adding that it was important that top officials from the Trump administration have direct, "face-to-face" talks.

"He needs to stop the incursion into Syria," Pompeo said. "We need them to stand down. We need a ceasefire at which point we can begin to put this all back together again."

Asked if he held Erdogan personally responsible for the situation in Syria, Pompeo said: "We have to remember this is a complex situation."

The US delegation was scheduled to depart Washington Wednesday evening, according to the White House.

The post Pence and Pompeo seek ceasefire as they depart for Ankara appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Pence had been scheduled to come during the week of Jan. 14. But Israel's Foreign Ministry said Monday that the visit was no longer on the schedule for January.

Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon gave no reason for the apparent delay but said it was still possible that Pence would decide to come. "It's not on our schedule," he said. "We can always adapt it and change it."

Later Monday, Pence's deputy chief of staff, Jarrod Agen, said the visit was still on. "As we said, we are going later this month," he said, without providing specific dates. Agen also said that Pence is still planning to go to Egypt.

Pence had been scheduled to visit Israel last month but called the trip off at the last minute, saying he would come instead in January.

The official reason given for the delay was a Senate tax vote, but the announcement closely followed region-wide uproar over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The Palestinians, who envision east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, decided to boycott a planned pre-Christmas meeting with Pence in Bethlehem to protest Trump's decision.

Leading Muslim and Christian clerics in neighboring Egypt also said they would refuse to meet with Pence during a planned stop in Cairo.

The post Despite delays, US vice president still plans to visit Israel, Pence's office says appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.