talks with turkey's president ridge of tell you berta on trying to convince him to stop his military offensive in northern syria penson the u.s. secretary of state might bump aoe are expected to warn ergo on that he will face more economic sanctions on less he agrees to a cease fire erdogan has so far rejected any attempts to broker a truce says his country isn't worried about further sanctions the operation began over a week ago after the u.s. withdrew support for kurdish allies in northern syria those fighters are regarded as terrorists by turkey let's bring in political hay and she's monitoring developments from washington d.c. so what are you hearing from your sources about what could be going on right now in turkey. well it's over we're just hearing from the pool that is traveling with the vice president that at 757 local time the press that was waiting for a press conference with the vice president we're told quick get your things were leaving they were hustled into vans and they are now driving to an unknown location with the vice president and we assume the secretary of state might might pompei oh

just to give a bit of context this meeting was supposed to be shorter than this about 2 hours ago we are expecting to hear from the vice president apparently that's not going to happen at least not at the palace where they were meeting with perhaps they'll talk to the press when they stop we really don't know but they will talk for about 4 and a half hours they had a one on one meeting they came out they took they let people have pictures none of them look very happy everyone had a bit of a grimace notably there was no american flag there which would have been seen as a courtesy to the vice president turkey letting it be known that they don't see him as a head of state which would have been the protocol to have an american flag there then they go into this extended bilateral it goes way longer than people are 'd expecting it the turkish side started offer to bring in food for the media that was waiting and then all of a sudden the vice president's people came and told the journalists get your stuff we got to go where they're going we can assume it's the airport but we don't know but i'll keep you posted as soon as i get any sort of word from the team traveling

with the vice president so we'll see if they in fact talk yeah interesting to see what happened there patty but you know just 24 hours ago trump seemed to be saying in that press conference he was giving with the italian president that well let them work it out by themselves he was referring to turkey and syria and if russia wants to help the kurds then so be it so this was a difficult task the vice president of a secretary of state were facing to try and convince her to want to negotiate some sort of ceasefire. almost impossible it would seem because you're right the president came out and said this is between turkey and syria this really has nothing to do with the us he said that his decision to pull out what he describes as 28 u.s. soldiers was strategically brilliant because he says he was protecting the soldiers i can tell you it came as a surprise to pretty much everyone in the chain of command and there has been and continues to be a really hurried attempt to evacuate these soldiers from what is obviously a very contentious area right now and we're seeing that the earlier one doesn't

seem to have a lot of concern for what the u.s. president has to say because we now know in the white house has confirmed the letter that the president sent to earth on october 9th where he said the trump described is a very strong letter and just to give you a sense and i don't think we can stress enough how unusual this letter is that trump writing to president history a look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way it will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don't happen don't be a tough guy don't be a fool now word out of turkey is that they took this letter and threw it in the trash and their response was to go into syria so if the president has leverage it doesn't appear that he's working in and the president seems of knowledge that he doesn't really want to have any leverage there so what you see what the vice president has to say but leaving this abruptly without doing the planned press conference sends a message that it seems likely the u.s. didn't get what at least the vice president says it wanted ok thank you.

meanwhile turkish and kurdish forces have been fighting in the syrian town of considered hugely strategic stratford has the latest from charland pienaar on the turkish side of the border. these are syrian rebels who are backed by turkey fighting kurdish forces in the town of russell i mean. the turkish military says gaining control of the border town in northern syria is vital he what it describes as the 1st phase of its operation. with kurdish fighters men and women many of them trained by u.s. led coalition soldiers in the battle against eisel are putting up stiff resistance . they've been fighting for almost 10 days. turkey's military operation started october the 9th 2 days after president donald trump announced the withdrawal of u.s. troops from the area. turkey says it's an anti terror campaign targeting kurdish

fighters aligned with the p k k the kurdistan workers party that has been fighting for decades so he's leaders say the aim is to establish what it describes as a safe zone approximately 30 kilometers deep or 440 kilometers wide along the syrian side of the border so many of the approximately 3600000 syrian refugees in turkey can return. but turkey's action is causing an international outcry aid agencies say they were already struggling to cope with the hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in this area before turkey's military started . president order one says turkish forces are doing all they can to avoid civilian casualties and to protect infrastructure. we're here for the humanity we're here for the treatment of people i want all the world to hear when i say the war stop this is

a very big disaster even if there is animosity we want those we're. pins to be silenced syrian rebel forces backed by turkey say they have taken control of areas on 3 sides of russell lane but the battle for full control of the town is proving hard the international red cross says as many as 200000 people may have been forced to flee towns and villages like russell i mean since turkey's military operation in northern syria started it says many of those that have fled are desperate need of aid and shelter international and kurdish aid agencies say civilian casualties continue to rise despite increasing international pressure on the turkey president or to one says the quickie solution would be for kurdish forces to drop their weapons and leave chance trafford al jazeera close to the turkish syrian border the u.n. says there has been progress in peace talks between the yemeni government and separatists in the south and 2 sides fell out in august when the separatists seize control of

the port city of aden saudi led negotiations in jeddah into rebuild the coalition fighting against the rebels who control much of the country coalition member the u.a.e. has been supporting the separatists. as i said at the outset many of us had hoped including myself here in riyadh had hoped the new agreement could have been announced today. i understand we're not quite there yet but it certainly does seem the progress has been made very significant progress during the jeddah talks under the leadership of the kingdom of saudi arabia and thanks to their strenuous diplomatic efforts the saudis there are encouraging signs as i say there's an agreement aimed at resolving the issues between the government of yemen under president had he and the southern transitional council may be well within reach. the u.s.

ambassador to the european union is testifying to the congressional inquiry into donald trump's impeachment. said the president ordered diplomats to involve his personal lawyer rudy giuliani in discussions about ukraine so let's look more closely who gordon song land is the wealthy owner of a hotel chain who give a $1000000.00 towards donald trump's inauguration president trump nominated song is the u.s. ambassador to the e.u. in may last year and he's being questioned about any role he played in encouraging ukraine to investigate trump's political rival joe biden and biden's son so on monday exchanged a series of text messages with another u.s. diplomat that had become central to allegations that trump will held aid from ukraine as a bargaining chip to encourage the biden investigation of castro is joining us for more on this from washington d.c. how damning do we expect this testimony to be heidi. well this could prove to be a pivotal witness for the democratic investigators here doraine someone has been

now testifying behind closed doors going on for hours and he is a central figure in what critics of the president are calling a shadow campaign of u.s. foreign policy that was intended to benefit the political ambitions in the reelection of the president himself now we have seen the opening statements that someone prepared and he told investigators that indeed he was asked by the president to work with a private attorney regionally ani who is not a representative of the u.s. government in dealing with ukraine sunland testify that this made him feel disappointed in his words but that he had to comply with the president's wishes and he said that giuliani then informed him that ukraine had to put forward a statement saying that it was open investigation into a company called charisma and someone claims he had no idea at the time that charisma was the same company that joe biden son had sat on the board thus this was

despite sun lands claiming to be an avowed ukraine expert and biden's name being in the headlines with ukraine on that very story during that time he claims he had no idea and that he thought that the statement was just on anti corruption investigation in general in ukraine and sunline denied having any discussions with the white house related to that the military aid had been promised to ukraine and that trump decided to temporarily withhold while all of this was play now but some interesting information actually just came out from another source from the acting chief of staff at the white house mick mulvaney who just spoke with reporters and now we've gone the closest answer we've heard thus far about exactly why that money was temporarily withheld the money just said that it was because ukraine. was dealing with corruption issues and because it was unwilling to play ball with the

presidents other request to help investigate and interference in the 26 team presidential election and mulvaney as argument was that this was an existing u.s. government justice department investigation and it is within the powers of the government to west help from a foreign nation on that front he did night that joe biden had anything to do with withholding that money 3 ok heidi thank you for that update oh well known politician in the impeachment inquiry and the trump critic has died eliza cummings was 68 passed away following complications from longstanding health problems the democratic congressman was chairman of the house oversight and reform committee and he led various investigations into trump and his family's dealings in the white house he was a passionate campaigner for the poor and his black majority districts of maryland's . so heidi mentioned the u.s. president's personal attorney who faced the deadline this week to hand over

documents to congress as part of fitz impeachment inquiry rudy giuliani is accused of running a shadow foreign policy operation meant to damage trump's political rivals kristen salumi has more. and maybe the american people have concluded that impeachment is not a problem rudy giuliani does not work for the u.s. government but as president trump's personal lawyer he appears at the center of efforts to pressure ukraine to investigate democrats ousted national security advisor john bolton reportedly called him a hand grenade who threatened to blow up the administration giuliani made a name for himself going after organized crime and public corruption as a federal prosecutor in new york a job that led to his election as mayor in 1904 but also to criticism he played for the camera he was an extremely tough prosecutor when wall street is he perp walk them he went after the mob he drove into little little league and the fired

them so he but he was a tough aggressive with an age of miss the miss he was out to get them and he got them giuliani rose to international prominence in 2001 after the attacks of september 11th earning the nickname america's mayor but his ties to his hometown in the law enforcement community have frayed since becoming one of the controversial president's most vocal defenders and giuliani is now in the sights of law enforcement himself for his ties to these 2 soviet born u.s. citizens charged with funneling foreign money to u.s. politicians and lobbying for the removal of the united states ambassador to the crane memory of it president trump called you've on a vigil bad news on that now infamous call where he pressured the ukrainian president to investigate his political rival former vice president joe biden and his son. who had business dealings in the country the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york the very office where rudy giuliani

rose to prominence as a federal prosecutor is handling the case of his associates it's also the office that convicted michael cohen the president's fixer of campaign finance violations and now is reportedly investigating giuliani himself you know i can't wait to come back to this giuliani denies breaking the law since he was working on behalf of the president not a foreign agent i think he shouldn't be underestimated that he's a tough guy and i think some of his lashing out acting out on the cable networks is is kind of an act. to distract to intimidate and to keep himself at the center of the story which he's a very effective at doing and so far he has refused to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry kristen salumi al jazeera new york aid agencies in the democratic republic of congo are warning of a desperate need of basic necessities for hundreds of thousands of people who fled

fighting food water shelter and medicines are in short supply and it's re province aid workers say congolese are dying every day from preventable diseases that's because of appalling living conditions and food prices are rising as the dry season approaches european union observers at tuesday's election in mozambique say campaigning was marked by violence on restrictions on fundamental freedoms as the election results are weighted other problems included lack of public trust and police impartiality and election observer in gaza province was killed in a shooting involving 5 policeman as malcolm webb reports from the provincial capital police deny the killing has any political ends. it was right here that anastasio matter valley was shot by 5 gunmen last week he died shortly afterwards in hospital he was an observer in mozambique's election and the director of of rights group. staff and i felt his colleague fernando young to have

a told us he'd been within minutes before at a training session for local observers and shy shy the capital of gaza province he says anastasio killing sent a clear message from frank's incredible mood it makes me feel scared i'm living in fear after this the situation is worse we're being followed it doesn't sit well with me. anastasio and his colleagues had raised concerns about 300000 so-called ghost voters on the electoral register in gaza province before he was shot and his killers sped off in a car just down the road they hit an oncoming car an overturned was right here 2 of the men died at the scene 2 others ran away and one was taken to hospital with bystanders immediately recognize them and identified them as members of a special police unit it's only because of the car crash that in this case the

identity of the killers was revealed and that's the international rights group human rights watch has documented 14 cases in the last 5 years where activists and officials from government and political parties have been killed or attacked in similar ways. the attackers normally disappear question is no longer aware that there are death squads almost i think was on this. was to provide them now thought on why members of the security forces boy around the country killing civilians. anastasio killing wasn't the only violence during election campaigns opposition parties through their rallies were stopped in some areas by ruling party supporters and police after the murder police suspended 2 senior officers they told us they're still investigating and that there's no evidence of political involvement in the killings. usual because it was a song what's being said by some organizations and journalists is entirely their

own responsibility and the police therefore doesn't agree with these statements that go beyond the police. the electoral commission says it's run a free and fair poll since tuesday's voting opposition and some observers have complained of serious irregularities in the vote counting process. the killing of anastasio will certainly affect how safe people feel to speak out malcolm webb al-jazeera has a province mozambique just a reminder that you can find much more on our website you can head to al-jazeera dot com. here with al-jazeera the headlines this hour burden on the european union have reached a tentative new bricks a deal hoping to put an end to their 3 year divorce battle but there are serious

doubts about whether the u.k. prime minister boris johnson will get it approved by parliament back in london. this is our chance in the u.k. as democrats to get breaks it done and come out on october 31st these are chance to focus on our priorities other people's priorities the n.h.s. putting 20000 police on the streets lifting up funding of education across the country the biggest expansion of the of the living wage those are the things i think the people of our country want us to be focusing on in addition to break we've been at this now as i say 3 and a half years it hasn't always been an easy experience for the u.k. well the u.s. vice president mike pence in the u.s. secretary of state my pompei a have been holding talks with the turkish president in ankara the u.s. delegation is trying to convince reza taber to want to call off his offensive in

northeastern syria penson pump aoe are expected to warn or to one that he'll face more economic sanctions unless he agrees to a ceasefire the threat of feisal fighters escaping detention has been discussed by the foreign ministers of iraq and france and baghdad european governments are concerned turkey's offensive against kurds in northern syria will allow some $12000.00 suspected fighters to escape the u.s. ambassador to the european union is testifying to the congressional inquiry into donald trump's impeachment gordon songlines said the president ordered diplomats to involve his personal lawyer rudy giuliani in discussions about ukraine hong kong leader kerry has been shouted down for a 2nd consecutive day in the territories legislature opposition members protested in the chamber and called for her to step down at least 10 people were moved by security was trying to answer questions regarding her annual policy address and she

was forced to deliver that speech through video link on wednesday. those are the headlines on al-jazeera more news coming up right after inside story thanks for watching. they don't believe in the 2 state solution do you still believe in the 2 state solution we listen what i said was that pakistan would never start a war i am anti war we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter how does iran. is it too late to stop turkey's military offensive in northern syria as the us president is criticized by all sides for allowing the operation to happen donald trump sends his top 10 boys to ask turkey for a cease fire come a compromise be found this is inside story. hello

and welcome to the program i'm still robin donald trump is trying to limit the fallout from turkey's military offensive in northern syria the u.s. president has been widely accused of allowing the operation to happen by withdrawing troops from the turkish strikes on kurdish forces began last week quickly followed by troops on the ground the u.s. house of representatives delivered a bipartisan rebuke by overwhelmingly opposing trumps pull out he sent both the vice president and the secretary of state to ankara to try and broker a cease fire turkey's president insists he won't back down instead of the one is urging kurdish fighters to surrender. give you miss our proposal is that right now all the rest lay down their arms they equipment everything is straw or their traps and get out of a safe sign that we have designated the standard arsenal no cardinal number you

know what was described as done from man beach to the iraqi border then operation peace spring which only targets terrorists and on its own double trump has given mixed messages since turkish troops launched their offensive the us president defended his decision to pull u.s. forces out of northern syria he tweeted it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous endless wars we will fight where it is to our benefit and only fight to win i was later he backtracked tweeting a warning to the turks if turkey does anything that i in my great an unmatched wisdom consider to be off limits i will totally destroy and obliterate the economy of turkey i've done before well trump also wrote a warning to turkey's president before the military action he started the latter 2 recipe erdogan suggesting that they could work out a good deal trumps tone soon changed telling the one that he could be remembered as

the devil if the offensive went ahead and warned you don't want to be responsible for the slaughtering of thousands of people and i don't want to be responsible for destroying the turkish economy don't be a tough guy don't be a fool and there are since been more contradictory statements from the u.s. leader i have told turkey there if they do anything outside of what we would think is you may need to use a word a 2nd time we talk about hong kong we talk about this they could suffer the wrath of a an extremely decimated economy now the kurds are fighting for their land just so you understand they're fighting for their land and as somebody wrote in a very very powerful article today. they didn't help us in the 2nd world war they didn't help us with no normandy as an example or we could mediated deal between turkey and the kurds i like that you know let's mediated deal we put the strongest sanctions that you can imagine but they get a lot we have a lot in store if they don't if they don't have an impact now the p.k. k.

which is a part of the kurds as you know is probably were said terry more of a terrorist threat in many ways than isis i'm not going to get involved in a war between. breaking to this program to take your life to ankara where the us the vice president and the secretary of state mike pompei are thinking after meeting with the turkish president let's listen to him president donald trump. the strong relationship between president erda juan and turkey. in the united states of america. the today the united states and turkey have agreed to a cease fire in syria. the turkish side will pause operation peace spring in order to allow for the withdrawal of why p.g. forces from the safe zone. for $120.00 all military

operations under operation piece spring will be pause in operation peace spring will be halted entirely on completion of the withdrawal. our ministration has already been in contact. with syrian defense forces and we have already begun to facilitate their safe withdrawal from the nearly 20 mile wide safe zone area south of the turkish border in syria. let me say this also includes an agreement by turkey to engage in no military action against the community. and in addition. the united states and turkey have both mutually committed. to a peaceful resolution and future for the safe zone working on an international

basis to ensure that peace and security defines this border region of syria in addition to the settlement today with the ceasefire turkey in the united states mutually committed to the defeat isis activities in northeast syria this will also include an agreement renewed today to coordinate efforts on detention facilities and internally displaced persons in formerly isis controlled areas. also turkey and the united states agree on the priority of respecting vulnerable human life human rights and particularly the protection of religious and ethnic communities in the region. i spoke to president trump.

just a few moments ago. and i know the president is very grateful for president are the ones willingness to step forward and to enact this cease fire. and to give an opportunity for a peaceful solution of this conflict that commenced one week ago for my part i'm grateful for the president's leadership. i'm grateful for the more than 5 hours of negotiation with president arafat won and his team that arrived at a solution that we believe will save lives. and let me also say i'm very grateful for this team. and to be able to have alongside the secretary of state my pump hail. our national security adviser robert o'brian embassador jim jim jefferies and investor david satterfield is a great privilege and each of the members of this team contributed equally to

achieving this outcome which is a great contribution to security in this region and it's a great contribution to the strong and enduring relationship between the united states of america and turkey lastly i want to express my appreciation to millions of americans. who i know were carrying this moment in prayer we heard from people all over the country whose hearts were heavy with the loss of life in this conflict over the last week long to see it brought to an end. and i believe their prayers. the strong leadership the president trying provided to this moment and the cooperation with president arafat won and turkey has made this possible and so again. let me

say. you have a week after turkish forces crossed into syria turkey in the united states of america have agreed to a cease fire in syria. it will be a pause in military operations for 120 hours while the united states facilitates the withdrawal of y.p. g. from the affected areas in the safe zone and once that is completed turkey has agreed to a permanent cease fire and the united states of america will work with turkey will work with nations around the world to ensure the peace and stability is the order of the day in this safe zone on the border between syria and turkey with ed let me recognize secretary of state my pompei oh and thank you mr secretary for your great. thanks i think vice president said it why i just wanted to add this thought

there are obviously remains a great deal of the work of work to do in the region there's lots of challenges that remain but this ep or tonight sets the conditions for the successful resolution of this particular piece which created enormous risk and a real risk of a civilian a president who was decision tonight to work alongside president trying to achieve this ends will be one that i think will benefit turkey a great deal thanks and you want to. we're very proud of have. very much. what you know how to how do you overcome how will you overcome the damage that's been caused over the past be weak there's been a lot of animosity between us and turkey a lot of things have been fed and a lot of threats that they can only thanks and have been may how are you going to repair their relationship going forward thank you. well 1st as you see from the

agreement. part of our understanding is that with the implementation of the cease fire. the united states will not impose any further sanctions. on turkey and once a permanent cease fire is in effect of the president has agreed to withdraw the economic sanctions that were imposed this last monday. but make no mistake about it president trump was very clear. with our ally turkey about american opposition. to turkish military. forces entering syria. president made that clear in his discussions in his correspondence with president an heir to juan. and i believe that the candor and frankness that president trump applied to this and the strength of his relationship with president

erda one both contributed to the ability for this agreement to come about and now we will we will work together to implement this agreement and as i said our team is already working with the y. p.g. personnel in the safe zone for an orderly withdrawal outside of the 20 mile mark and and we're going to go forward together to bring peace and security of this region i'm very confident of that. ok i. chena. place. you're going to see and i know. there are reports by some international vulcans a sense on how by fiji's to think i think on religious minorities in northern syria and christian leaders in turkey i'm making calls to the county to ensure peace and

security in the region i'm wondering your thoughts on this. well let me let the secretary also address that but i can tell you that. the president aired what i spoke at great length about the importance of protecting. religious minorities in the region a prisoner on also shared with me the perspective of many leaders in religious communities here in turkey who have a great concerns about violence and persecution taking place along the border and so part of our remit is to continue to work very closely to ensure that religious minorities can thrive and that religious pluralism. is is. is one of the characteristics of this of this safe zone for some time to come this sector. i read only this we've certainly heard from vice president or from

christian leaders around the world who express much of the same concern that you just described we think this reduction in violence this cease fire reduces the risk of that so we think this greatly contributes to protecting religious minorities throughout throughout syria and throughout the broader middle east as well that's all obviously happens in the context of lots of religious challenges lots of shall just religious persecution in iraq in other places well we think this is important contribution in that regard the other thing is that we talked about it some like is that to the extent there are abuses that are identified come we'll ask each leader certainly present and want to his team and others to investigate any allegations of abuse that have taken place. you know that you have maybe had an addendum to that one of the things. i know the president and the american people are most proud of is the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to help rebuild. a christian you see another religious minority communities in the aftermath of the horrifying

violence. during the during the isis period both in syria and in northern iraq will continue to flow those resources to support those communities but as you'll see from this agreement it is a specific undertaking by turkey and by the united states to ensure to protect religious minorities in the affected region shauntay and. thank you mr vice president you mentioned that there's an organized withdrawal from one p.g. fighters in the wood morrisons been agreement with them where they're going to withdraw to what you see the future of them and while there are obviously concerns here in turkey about the white b.g. and the links to p k k many in washington say for example to. right against the islamic state group conciseness what do you see for the future of northern syria do you see any future for for the syrian kurds politically. well arc our commitment.

with turkey is that we will work. with white b.g. members. we also know as syria defense forces to facilitate an orderly withdrawal over the next 120 hours and let me say that's literally already begun. and where they will be withdrawing from is the demarcation line roughly 20 miles south of the border. turkey's willingness to pause and embrace a cease fire of military operations. to enable us to to see that orderly withdrawal of of why p.g. will we believe make it possible for that to occur and it i know it's already already underway as we speak. but look the.

turkey's. had a great concern about their border and while the united states of america did not approve of. their military crossing in into syria. we have always indorsed a safe so it was a matter of discussion and negotiations and we believe that. that the kurdish population in syria with which we have a strong relationship will continue to endure. the united states will always be grateful for our partnership with s.d.f. in defeating isis but we recognize the importance and the value. a safe zone to create a buffer between. syria proper in the kurdish population and and the turkish border and we're going to be working very closely so we we think the

agreement today 1st ends the violence which is what president trump sent us here to do. i said again and again to the president heard of one is president trump sent us here to end the violence. and achieve an immediate cease fire. and thanks to the agreement that we negotiated today in the strong stand the president took in the preceding days we've we've achieved that we've also achieved an opportunity by working with y p g. to move out of the area to create more peace and security and stability in that buffer zone and we're going to be working very earnestly to accomplish that we believe that can be accomplished during 120 hour period and after which there will be a permanent cease fire and then we'll continue to engage again not militarily the president made it clear that we're not going to have military personnel on the

ground but the united states will continue to engage diplomatically politically and of course in humanitarian aid and support to affect all of the people affected in this region. where. you know you mentioned the united states opposed to turkey's incursion into northern syria bad but that area wanted to know was one of the sort of states down here what concessions did you actually get out of president into one number one number 2 had you gotten specific assurances from the white b.g. that they will comply with the terms of this agreement because this is something that they have said that they would not do and finally with the kurds moving south and now with sort of what the u.s. sanction in terms of that then moving south what how would you address critics who would call this potentially a 2nd abandonment of the kurds. well i think you'll be able to see from the agreement itself. what concessions were made the president.

in his telephone call with president arafat want to earlier this week. and in the directive that he gave us to deliver it was very clear. that the he wanted to see as far you want to stop the violence. turkey's engage in an active military operation. i can tell you that as our discussions began over the course of the 5 hour period of time we we reached a place of a green. about how a ceasefire could benefit turkey achieve president trumps objectives and also contribute to a peaceful resolution of the safe zone and i believe that i believe that we've accomplished that. with regard to the y p g the syrian defense forces we have been in contact today and we've received repeated assurances from them that

they'll be moving now that they greatly welcome the opportunity for a ceasefire to make a safe and orderly withdrawal from those areas in the safe zone where they still have a presence and we're we're very confident. of that that's already taking place and we're going to be. using all the. leverage that we have of having fought alongside syrian defense forces in the battle against isis to. facilitate their safe withdrawal but we think we. we think this is an outcome that will greatly serve the interests of. of. of the kurdish population in syria greatly serve the interest of turkey in to create the kind of long term buffer zone that will ensure peace and stability

in the region mr aslaksen just want to follow up on that question what specific concessions did the turkey receive specifically i want to ask you if they brought the issue up of panic all back up and running not in the context of these negotiations when we had concluded negotiations. the topic was raised and we informed them that that was a matter for the southern district of new york in the justice department but let me say the the the concessions that the united states made have to do with the fact that. the president made it clear that if there had not been a ceasefire today there would have been. a new round of massive sanctions. against turkey and you'll see in the agreement that on the basis of the pause. of 120 hours. a ceasefire over the next 5 days

that we will not be implementing additional sanctions during that period of time once we have a permanent cease fire. following the orderly withdrawal of all why p.t. forces of the united states also agreed to withdraw the sanctions that were imposed on several cabinet officials and several agencies earlier this week so it's so to accept. just to be clear though just to to now this down so it was simply the sanctions that would be removed and nothing else was was offered and given us the terms right right oh that's. right yeah go ahead go ahead. thank you mr vice president. while you're here negotiating with the turks for several hours both of you. are going to

have it. like that not all your life. i mean. you know. why or. why don't you. write. the the united states of america did not support turkey's military action in syria present from made it very clear to his friend president or one in the united states imposed sanctions earlier this week. and the president made it clear yesterday we made it clear again today that there would be additional sanctions coming to bring an end to the violence to the loss of innocent lives in this border conflict. that being said let me say i i really believe today. today's cease fire is a credit to president trump and a president her to want it's

a credit to the strong relationship between the united states and turkey it's also a credit to the strong relationship between our 2 leaders where there are differences between friends to important to friends. and let their feelings be known president did that in this case. but it facilitated us being able to reach an agreement that has now resulted in a cease fire. and we believe will set the stage for creating a peaceful and stable a safe zone in the united states is committed to achieving that for all the people of this region i got to tell mr vice president. turkey in the united states have agreed to a cease fire in northeast syria and that's according to the u.s. vice president mike pence who was just speaking in life from ankara after he and his secretary of state my pompei o were holding meetings with the turkish president. so let me just go through some

of the major points that came out of that press conference the vice president said that turkey will pause the operation it's currently undergoing in northeast syria in order to allow the withdrawal of forces for 120 hours and he also says that the u.s. has already began has begun to facilitate these safe withdrawal of the kurdish forces from the area the vice president also went on to say that the turkish operation will end when that will draw all of forces of the y.p. g. forces is complete and only then will there be a permanent ceasefire let's go back to listen to what prince had to say just a moment ago the united states and turkey have agreed to a cease fire in syria. turkish side will pause operation peace bring you new order to allow for the withdrawal of white p.g.

forces from the safe zone. for 120 hours on military operations under operation peace treaty would be pause. in operation spring will be halted entirely on completion of the withdrawal. so the us president donald trump tweeted this just moments before that announcement in ankara great news out of turkey news conference shortly with vice president pence and secretary pompei oh thank you to president won millions of lives will be saved let's bring in particular she's joining us from washington and listening to the vice president speak in ankara he seem to be crediting the cease fire to the strong relationship turkey and the united states have and also the strong relationship between the 2 presidents or 2 on and trump party talk us through. what you heard during that press conference out of ankara. yeah there is a whole lot to unpack here so let's take

a look at what the vice president is saying he is saying that turkey has agreed to stop its offensive because it's going to get exactly what it wanted to get they're going to get the safe zone allegedly according to mike pence the question is and he kept saying well it's happening now the why they're moving we're helping them move one of the things i want to be asking the pentagon how is that happening and you've already admitted that the troops have the u.s. troops have moved out of there going so far as to blow up their bunkers and their ammunition in a hasty retreat the other question i have is why would the why p.g. to listen to the united states and the vice president actually said we have a good relationship with them because we work with them to fight eisel but then they abandon them to the kurds so he said that they have an agreement with those fighters to basically withdraw from that 32 kilometer area that by virtue of always said that he wanted to stand by for a moment heidi apologies because we're just going to cross back to anchor and

listen to what the turkish foreign minister has to say. today. united nations resolution 50 full we expressed. that. to this. and. also reconfirm which i was solidarity as. a p.g. we limit drove we didn't do a $120.00 then we will start reveal. we will not stop the operation yet but we will put on the whole loot. because ceasefire can only be a greet between 2 sovereigns state. terrorist operations were to target of the operations of the just putting your own to hold a lot will terrorist organizations to draw from the

a reactor once they leave the area and completely if we drove down we will stop the operation. yup that. was an operation on a hold. you say will lift sanctions. and once we comply with all the conditions that is within the under than trying to. rule this completely then operation real be stopped. and then cut and sanctions will be lifted the east of euphrates and we will cooperate regarding our fight against. and it was determined to fight until now and. and more than 4000.

neutralized members neutralized. and we always reiterated that when fighting with terrorist organization there is no need to use any of the terrorist organizations. a greek to cooperate in fight against the. president's strong leadership enabled us to reach these resolutions and usa a delegation was sitting here and differ on booking our president have telephone conversations and then our president did say that one student legation wrote we can talk about the issue because trump was asking for a ceasefire since yesterday we had the delegations here and there. defense minister of defense and their team of the minister of defense and

intelligence services and and other team members from our ministries have been virtually king. in the negotiations. and we. support we reached at this resolution i would like to thank to all if there are any questions i am happy to answer those questions. minister. regarding wrist secure secure area really be limited to tot up the up. tense used about 20 miles previously it was mentioned that 440 kilometer length. will it reach to 440 kilometers long as you all know usa military is we draw from this region including members and in some other areas the regime. is present there

and near the. border areas including coming regime is present there as well. and yesterday in kabul an area also was entered by regime forces so we are going to told yesterday our president told putting on the phone last night. and to talk about. it will be taken in syria and a president was in white it and then we will be able to discuss all these issues. 32 clear mature. and from eastern ukraine to. iraqi border which is 140

kilometers long in that area object of was the clear from terrorist and establish secure zone here this is important for our security which was emphasized all the china by our praised when he was meeting with leaders. and these. real. displaced people and refugees. will be able to patridge it and come to accommodated in this region. the. safe zone is 440 can enrich and. some parts of this issue will be discussed and other parts will be discussed we

need russia and then necessary steps to be a bitch a king. you just. have only to find. you're listening to the turkish foreign minister speaking from ankara he was speaking right after the us vice president mike pence in the secretary of state might pale also spoken from the capital of the turkish foreign minister confirming the suspension of the offensive that's taking place right now in the north east of syria let's bring in political hane once again she's joining us from washington patty because you were unpacking the u.s. side of the story for the for us and talking us through what the u.s. vice president had to say about the cease fire so let's go back to that. so let's think about what turkey wanted of this they wanted

a free and clear 32 kilometer deep zone into syria and the foreign minister that air the spokesman just there said that the goal is to repatriate. hundreds of thousands of syrian refugees into that area that is exactly what the s.d.f. the y.p. gee did not want and so let's think about what the vice president just said he's basically saying through 5 day cease fire that turkey is going to get exactly what it wanted at the set it's going to get this safe zone then he went on to say we have a great relationship with the y.p. g. because of our long term fight with them over against eisel he didn't say that basically the u.s. just abandoned them when it pulled its troops out so suddenly on the president's tweet so he said that they are going to move back now he said they have assurances he said it's happening right now that the u.s. military is in fact helping that helping make that happen we're going to be asking the pentagon is that is in fact true because according to the pentagon the u.s.

forces that were there have pulled out and did it in such a hasty way that in some cases they were forced to bomb their ammunitions or wouldn't fall in to turkish hands not a very effective method to do it but it does show just how he steve a retreat it was so this is the vice president putting that's the spin on it that this is all fine and good and the wife is going to listen but i think we just heard again from the spokesman the key player here is not the vice president it's not president trump it's not him or putin and so he said he's going to go and talk to vladimir putin because the white b.g. the s.d.f. they are now aligned with russia and the syrian government so if they're going to move it's going to be because those people told them to i don't think the vice president saying they have a great relationship can be taken as credible given everything that's happened over the last couple of days one thing i should point out is the president just tweeted u.s. president donald trump just tweeted the deal could never have been made 3. days ago there needed to be some quote unquote tough love in order to get it done great for

everybody proud of all so again the president talking about tough love and one of the things that pence held up these sanctions that the press that the president had put on turkey these were not exactly tough sanctions every expert i spoke with said this isn't really going to hurt the turkish economy so pence is saying but part of this agreement means there will not be u.s. sanctions on turkey the vice president doesn't get to say that he doesn't get to decide that the u.s. congress is currently talking amongst themselves in a bipartisan buy carol way to come up with turkey's sanctions on turkey things like cutting off military aid stopping weapon sales personally going after people close to earth on that their finances in the united states. we don't know if this is going to be enough for congress because again according to the vice president turkey is getting exactly what turkey wanted at the onset of this before the offensive to move the kurds out of that safe zone as they keep calling it so the

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell he pretty much sent the message they have the votes they have enough votes before this announcement to override any potential presidential veto so the vice president can tell the president of turkey that there could be any u.s. sanctions but yet he doesn't get to actually decide that the u.s. congress will decide. thank you for helping us unpack out from washington let's bring in those joining us from that's on the turkey syria border is a no what then does this actually mean for the y.p. gee when the vice president says the withdrawal is already underway well the white peachy which is the backbone of the u.s. allied or what was once the u.s. ally syrian democratic forces clearly there at the losing end they have been at the losing end since the united states decided to withdraw militarily from the northeast of.