Turkey ready to continue Syria offensive if truce not implemented
(VOVWORLD) -Turkish troops in northern Syria are ready to continue their offensive if a deal with the US to pause the conflict while Kurdish fighters withdraw is not fully implemented, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday.
 Turkish troops in Tal Abyad, northern Syria on October 18, 2019. (Photo: THX / VNA) |
Turkey and the US agreed on Thursday for Ankara to halt its offensive for 120 hours while the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia withdraws from a “safe zone” in northeastern Syria. On Saturday, the fragile ceasefire was holding along the Syrian border.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the same day that he plans to discuss with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the presence of Syrian troops in the “safe zone” during next Tuesday’s meeting in Sochi, Russia. He insisted that Ankara would "carry out its own plan" if no solution could be reached.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Germany on Saturday to protest Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria.