Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a Politico interview, forcefully defended the agreement, brushed back accusations that the Kurds were sold out and said that despite reports of fighting Friday, he is "confident" a pause in violence will take hold.
As a high-level USA delegation departed for Turkey seeking a cease-fire in northern Syria, President Donald Trump defended his decision to withdraw troops from the area and warned of "devastating" sanctions on Ankara if those talks fail.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday made his first comments concerning the October 9 letter from Trump, in which among other things he warned Erdogan not to be a "tough guy".
The Vice-President says the U.S. and Turkey have "mutually committed to peaceful resolution and future for the safe zone".
But Turkish officials did not agree with the characterization.
Following their withdrawal, Turkey's military operation would be "halted entirely", Pence said. "This is not a cease-fire".
"Turkish military forces and their allies have displayed an utterly callous disregard for civilian lives, launching unlawful deadly attacks in residential areas that have killed and injured civilians", said Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty's secretary general.
There had been confusion before Ankara launched the incursion over whether he had given Turkey the green light during a phone call between Erdogan and Trump on October 6.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said more than 300,000 civilians had been displaced within Syria since the start of the assault, calling it one of the largest upheavals since Syria's civil war began in 2011.
"Our commitment with Turkey is that we will work with the YPG members and... And we are in a very strong position", he said. News has not independently verified what groups were behind the attacks.
The last-minute deal came after United States forces left destruction in the wake of their retreat in a sign that American units were leaving hastily.
The Kurds were USA allies in the fight against the Islamic State but came under assault after Trump ordered U.S. troops to pull out. "So, there's a lot of sand that they can play with".
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the U.S. had accepted the idea of a safe zone long pushed by Turkey, and he insisted Turkish armed forces will control the zone.
A scan of President Trump's letter to Erdogan was tweeted by The New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers yesterday, revealing that the commander-in-chief had threatened to destroy the Turkish economy if the country was "responsible for slaughtering thousands of people" during its invasion of northeastern Syria. In fact, at the same time we were withdrawing those advisers, the Pentagon was moving 3,000 more American troops to Saudi Arabia. But it was not immediately clear that the Trump administration would be able to reenlist the Kurds in the fight to defeat the Islamic State in Syria after the Defense Department paused the mission last week.
The Trump administration has since sanctioned three Turkish ministers and two ministries, suspended talks of a $100 billion trade deal and reimposed 50% tariff on steel.
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