Trump has announced that he’s removing all Turkish sanctions imposed on October 14th after a ceasefire has been reached in Syria:
BREAKING: Pres. Trump says Turkey told him they will make ceasefire in northern Syria "permanent," and that he is lifting sanctions on Turkey "unless something happens that we're not happy with." https://t.co/jlKvlTQiU6 pic.twitter.com/D8U8r6iey7
— ABC News (@ABC) October 23, 2019
Erdogan told Trump that Turkey will make sure this ceasefire is permanent. Trump says he believes it will be permanent, with the caveat that ‘permanent’ in that part of the world is questionable.
But Trump does reserve the right to reimpose sanctions is Turkey doesn’t live up to its promises:
Trump threatens #Turkey with reimposing crippling sanctions if #Turkey do not live up to commitments with regard to #ISIS and protection of ethnic and religious minorities. pic.twitter.com/ctG0fPaT3f
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) October 23, 2019
Trump notes that a small number of troops will remain to protect the oil that we’ve secured and that they’ll decide later what to do with it:
President Trump: "The nations in the region must ultimately take on the responsibility of helping Turkey in Syria police their border."
"A small number of U.S. troops will remain in the area where they have the oil" https://t.co/oG7Ua1BIPF pic.twitter.com/dTxOF4wf99
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 23, 2019
And lastly…
President Trump on the US military withdrawal of northern Syria: "Let someone else fight over this long blood-stained sand." pic.twitter.com/591RsENYmH
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) October 23, 2019
UPDATE: The Kurds thank Trump for his efforts to stop the Turks…
BREAKING: #SDF Commander thanks @POTUS "for his tireless efforts that stopped the brutal Turkish attack"
Gen Mazloum Abdi also says US promised "long term support at various spheres" pic.twitter.com/CEdwGyEghA
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) October 23, 2019
Below are Trump’s full remarks: