President Trump called Turkey’s president Monday to demand he halt the country’s incursion into Syria and enact an immediate ceasefire, Vice President Mike Pence said Monday.
“President Trump communicated to him very clearly that the United States of America wants Turkey to stop the invasion, implement an immediate ceasefire and to begin to negotiate with Kurdish forces in Syria to bring an end to the violence,” Pence told reporters at the White House.
Pence also revealed that he’ll soon be heading to Turkey in a bid to jumpstart negotiations to end Turkey’s offensive, which began last Wednesday after Trump removed US troops from northern Syria, making way for Turkish forces.
News of Trump’s phone call comes after the president vowed to slap sanctions on Turkey and “immediately stop negotiations” with the country over what he called a $100 billion trade deal.
“Turkey’s military offensive is endangering civilians and threatens peace, security and stability in the region,” Trump said in an earlier statement he posted on Twitter.
“I have been perfectly clear with [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan: Turkey’s action is precipitating a humanitarian crisis and setting conditions for possible war crimes.
“Unfortunately, Turkey does not seem to be mitigating the humanitarian effects of its invasion,” read the statement.
Pence said the sanctions announced Monday were only the beginning “unless Turkey is willing to embrace a ceasefire, come to the negotiating table and end the violence.”
With Post wires



