Turkey, US agree to temporary ceasefire in Syria: US official

Turkey has agreed to end the military offensive in northern Syria after Kurdish fighters withdraw from a safe zone, US Vice President Mike Pence has said.

Ankara’s incursion "will be halted entirely on completion" of the withdrawal, Pence told reporters following more than five hours of negotiations between a US delegation and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday.

He said that Turkey will suspend its military operation for 120 hours to allow Kurdish YPG militants to pull out from the designated safe zone along the Turkish and Syrian border.

“Today the United States and Turkey have agreed to a ceasefire in Syria, in order to allow from YPG forces to withdraw from the safe zone for 120 hours,” Pence said.

Turkey's military will primarily enforce a "safe zone" in northern Syria, according to a joint US-Turkish statement.

Turkish Foreign Minster Mevlut Cavusoglu Turkey's military was only "pausing" operations so that the Kurdish YPG forces could leave the zone.

He added no guarantees were made in the talks on the flashpoint Syrian border town of Kobani.

On Thursday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his government will respond through all legitimate means available to the Turkish offensive.

During a meeting with visiting Iraqi National Security Advisor Falih al-Fayyadh in Damascus, Assad said foreign schemes in the Middle East region have been foiled throughout history, and the Turkish criminal aggression, launched by Erdogan’s administration, on Syria falls within such plots.

SS