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Turkey Agrees to Pause Military Operations in Northern Syria
(Wall Street Journal) Alex Leary - Turkey agreed to suspend military operations in northern Syria for five days in return for a U.S. pledge to facilitate a pullout by Syrian Kurdish fighters. Vice President Mike Pence reached the deal after five hours of talks with Turkish President Erdogan on Thursday. Once Kurdish forces withdraw from a "safe zone," the cease-fire will become permanent, Pence said. The head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, told Kurdish Ronahi TV that the SDF will do what needs to be done to make the cease-fire succeed. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the move a "pause," saying, "This is not a cease-fire. Taking a pause doesn't mean that our soldiers will withdraw." "We have a very convoluted situation, with Russian, Syrian Army, Turkish, American, SDF and some [Islamic State] elements all floating around in a very wild way," said James Jeffrey, the U.S. special representative for Syria, who accompanied Pence.