later this evening on -- c-span president trump will be holding a campaign rally in dallas, we'll have it live on c-span. vice president pence and secretary of state pompeo announced the u.s. reached a deal with turkey for a cease-fire to allow kurds to withdraw. turkey will pause all military operations for 120 hours. vladimir putin and erdogan will be meeting in sochi as the cease-fire is set to en. ladies and gentlemen, secretary of state of the united states, michael pompeo and vice president of the united states, mike pence.

one week ago turkish forces crossing into syria. president trump took a decisive action to call on turkish forces to stand down and the violence, agreed to negotiations. today i am proud to report, thanks to the strong leadership of president trump and the strong relationship between president erdogan and turkey and the united states of america. today the united states and turkey have agreed to a cease-fire in syria.

turkish's side will pause operation peace spring in order to allow for the withdrawal of wide pg forces from the safe zone for 120 hours. all military operation will be paused. an operation peace spring will be halted entirely on completion of withdraw. our administration had been in contact with syria defense forces and we have begun to facilitate of their safe withdrawal nearly 20 miles safe zone area, south of the turkish border in syria. also includes in an agreement by turkey to engage in no military action against the community of

cabani and in addition the united states and turkey mutually committed to a peaceful resolution and future for the safe zone working on an international bases so ensure that peace and security defines this border region of syria. this will also include an agreement renewed today to coordinate efforts on detention on facilities and internally displaced persons in formally isis controlled areas. also, turkey and the united states agreed on the priority of respecting vulnerable human life, human rights particularly

the protection of religious and ethic communities in the region. i spoke to president trump a few moment ago, i know the president is pleased that president erdogan stepping forward to a cease-fire and given a peaceful solution of conflict that commenced one week ago. i am grateful for the president's leadership. i am grateful for more than five hours of negotiations with president erdogan and his team, arriving of the solution that we believe will save lives. let me also say i am grateful for this team and to be able to have alongside secretary state of mike pompeo.

our national security advise to robert o'brien and our ambassadors. each of the member of theis tea contributed equally to achieving this outcome which is a great contribution to secure this region and it is a great contribution for the strong and enduring relationship between the united states of america and turkey. i want to express my aproegs r appreciation to millions of americans, we heard from people all over the country whose hearts were heavy with the loss of lives and the conflict over the last week is brought to an end. i believe their prayers and strong leadership that president trump provided at this moment

and the cooperation with president erdogan and turkey have made this possible. again, let me say a week after turkey forces into syria, turkey and the united states of america have agreed to a cease-fire. it will be a pause military operation for 120 hours while the united states facilitate with the withdraw of ypg from the affected area in the safe zone and once that's completed, turkey has agree of a permanent cease-fire and the united states of america will work with turkey and will work with nations around the world to ensure that peace and stability is the order of day in this safe zone on the border between syria and turkey. with that, let me recognize secretary mike pompeo and thank

you mr. secretary for your great work. >> thank you. >> i want to add this thought, there obviously remains a great deal of work to do in the region. there is a lot of challenges that remains. this after tonight, conditions for this successful resolution of this particular peace which created a real risk of stability of president erdogan. it will benefit turkey a great deal. thanks, if you want to take some question, vice president pence. >> go right ahead. >> how do you over come the damage that's been caused over the past week. there is been a lot of animosity between u.s. and turkey and a

lot of things have been said and a lot of threats have been made. how are you go i think to repair the relationship going forward? >> first as you will see from the agreement, part of our understanding is that with the implementation of the cease-fire, the united states will not impose further sanctions on turkey and once a permanent cease-fire in effect, 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 allies in turkey of american opposition. the turkish military forces entering syria. the president made that clear in

his courresponses with erdogan. the strength of his relationship with president erdogan, both contributed to the ability for disagreement to come about. now we'll work together to implement this agreement. as i said, our team already is working with ypg personnel in the safe zone for orderly withdraw outside the 20-mile mark and we'll go forward together peace in this region. i am confident of that. >> thank you.

president erdogan and i spoke great length about the importance of protecting religious morders in the region. president erdogan shared with me the perspective of many leaders in religious communities here in turkey who had great concerns of violence and persecution taken place along the border. part of our agreement is to continue to work closely to ensure that religious flourish is one of the characteristics of

the safe zone for some time to come. mr. secretary. >> we have certainly heard from vice president and our christian leaders around the world expressed the same concerns that you described. we think this production and violence, this cease-fire reduces the risk of that. we think it greatly contributes to religious men throughout syria and the broader members in the middle east as well. a lot of religious challenges and religious persecutions and iraq. we think it is an important contribution in that regard. the other thing is to the extent, we'll ask each leaders and certainly president erdogan and his team to investigate any allegations of abuse that's taken place. >> let me add an addendum to that, one of the things i know the president and the american people are proud of is

investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to help rebuild religious communities in the after math of the horrible violence during isis period both in syria and northern iraq. we'll continue to flow those resources to support those communities. as you will see from this agreement, it is a specific under taking by turkey and the united states to ensure to protect religious minorities in the affected region. >> can you explain a little bit more of where they are going to withdraw to and where do you see the future and many in washington says fighting against

islamic state groups and isis. what do you see for the future of northern syria or do you see any future for the syrian kurds politically? >> well, our commitment with turkey is that we'll work with members and facilitate on orderly withdraw over the next 120 hours. let me say this literally already begun and where they would be withdrawing from is the line roughly 20 miles south of the border. turkey's willingness to pause and embrace a cease-fire military operations to enable us, to see if that's orderly withdraw of wpg, we believe make

it possible to it to occur. i know it is already underway as we speak. turkey had a great concern and while the united states of america did not approve of their military crossing into syria, we have always endorsed a safe zone and it was a matter of discussions and negotiations and we believe that the kurdish population? syria which we have a strong relationship, we'll continue to endure, the united states will always be grateful for our partnership with sdf in defeating isis but we recognize the importance and the values of a safe zone to create a buffer

between syria and turkish border. we think the agreement today first ends the violence which president trump sent us here to do. i said again and again to president erdogan. president trump sent us here to end the violence and achieve in an immediate cease-fire. in the proceeding days, we achieved that. my working to move out of the area to create more peace and security and stability. we'll work to accomplish that. we agree it can be accomplished during the 120 hours period and after which there will be a

permanent cease-fire and we'll continue to engage. again, not military, the president made it clear that we are not going to have military personnel on the ground but the united states will continue to engage diplomatically, politically and in humanitarian aide and support to affect all of the people that's affected in the region. last question. >> you mentioned that the united states hosts turkey and syrian into the area. what concessions did you actually get out of president erdogan. have you gotten specific assurances that they'll comply with the terms of the agreement. that's something they said they would not do and finally with the kurds moving south and now with the u.s. sanctions in terms of them moving south, how do you

address this and calling it second abandonment with the kurds. >> you will be able to see in the agreement itself of what concessions were made. president trump in his phone call with president erdogan earlier this week and in the directive that he gave us delivered was very clear. he wanted a cease-fire and stop the violence. turkey's engaging in an active military operation. i can tell you as our discussions began over the course of time, we reached a place of agreement of how a cease-fire benefit turkey and achieve president trump's objectives and contribute to a peaceful resolution in a safe zone. i believe that we have accomplished that.

with regards to the ypg, we have been in contact today and we received repeated assurance from them that they'll be going out. they greatly welcome to opportunity for a cease-fire to make a safe and orderly withdraw from those area and we are confident that is already taken place and we'll be using all leverage that we have of having fought alongside syria defense forces and the battle against isis to facilitate their safe withdraw. we think this is an outcome that'll greatly serve the interests of the kurdish

population of syria and create the kind of long-term buffer zone that'll ensure peace and stability in the region. >> mr. vice president, i want to follow up, what specific concessions did turkey received and specifically i want to ask you if they brought the issue of the -- >> when we concluded the negotiations of the topic, the topic was raised and we informed them that was a matter for the southern district of new york and the justice department, but let me say that 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 cease-fire today, there would have been a new round of massive sanctions against turkey. you will see in the agreement

that on the bases of the pause 120 hours, a cease-fire over the next five days, we'll not be implementing a sanction during that time. the united states also agreed to withdraw sanctions that were imposed on several cabinet officials and several agencies earlier this week. >> to be clear though, it was simply sanctions that would be removed and nothing else was offered. >> thank you, guys. >> go ahead.

>> while you were here negoti e negotiating with the turks -- >> can i finish real quick? the united states america did not support turkey's action. president trump made it clear. the united states imposed sanctions earlier this week and the president made it clear yesterday and we made it clear again today that there would be additional sanctions coming to bring into the violence to the loss of innocent lives in this border conflict. i really believe today's

cease-fire is a credit to president trump and president erdogan. it is a credit to the strong relationship between the united states of turkey and it is also the credit of the strong relationship between our two leaders. where there are differences between friends importantly and friends and let their feelings be known. president trump did that in this case. but, fail tated us being able to reach an agreement that's now resulted in a cease-fire and we believe we'll set the stage for creating a peaceful and stable, a safe zone the united states is committed in achieving for all the people in this region. >> mr. president, can i finish my question that i started please?

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megan-phelps-roper. watch her live coverage on saturday starting at 11:30 a.m. eastern. be sure to catch the texas book festival in october and miami book fair in november on book booktv c-span 2. the poll shows that just over a third of americans believe in person voter fraud is a problem and just as many disagreed. republicans at 44% are more likely to believe it is an issue. than our democrats and independence. it does not reach a majority among any of those groups. almost half of americans believe that voter discrimination is still a problem in the united states while a quarter disagreed. there is nearly a 50-point