US touts ceasefire in Syria, but Turkey calls it a 'pause'

US Vice President Mike Pence announced that he and President Erdogan of Turkey agreed to a ceasefire halting Turkey's incursion into northern Syria. The deal appears to secure Turkey most of its military objectives and forces America's one-time Kurdish allies in the fight against ISIS to cede a vast swath of territory. Speaking in Ankara, Turkey, Pence said the "Turkish side will pause Operation Peace Spring in order to allow for the withdrawal of YPG forces from the safe zone for 120 hours." "All military operations will be paused, and Operation Peace Spring will be halted entirely on completion of the withdrawal," he said. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the reached agreement between the US and Turkey to suspend military operations in Syria is not a ceasefire. “We will pause the operation for 120 hours in order for the terrorists to leave,” Cavusoglu said. "We will only stop the operation if our conditions are met.”