agreed to a five-day ceasefire in syria to let the kurds withdraw from a stretch of land between syria and turkey. vice president pence made the announcement in turkey after a four-hour meeting with turkish president erdogan. vice president pence: one week ago, turkish forces crossed into syria. earlier this week, president trump took decisive action to call on turkish forces to stand down, to end the violence, to agree to negotiations. and today, i'm proud to report,

thanks to the strong leadership of president donald trump and the strong relationship between president erdogan and turkey and the united states of america, that today, the united states and turkey have agreed to a ceasefire in syria. the turkish side will pause operation peace spring in order to allow for the withdrawal of y.p.g. forces from the safe zone for 120 hours. all military operations under operation peace spring will be paused and operation peace spring will be halted entirely on completion of the withdrawal. our administration 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 into

-- in syria. let me say this also includes an agreement by turkey to engage in no military action against the community of kobani. 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 and 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 agreed 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 erdogan's willingness to step forward and to enact this ceasefire 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 five hours of negotiations with president erdogan 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. to be able to have alongside the secretary of state mike pompeo. our national security advisor, robert o'brien. ambassador jim jefferies and ambassador david satterfield. it was 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, longed to see it brought to an end. and i believe their prayers, the strong leadership that president trump provided to this moment, and the cooperation with president erdogan and turkey has made this possible. so again, let me say, a week of -- after turkish forces crossed into syria, turkey and the united states of america have agreed to a ceasefire 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 ceasefire and the united states of america will work with turkey, will work with

nations around the world, to ensure that peace and stability is the order of the day. in this safe zone on the border between syria and turkey. with that, let me recognize secretary of state mike pompeo and thank you, mr. secretary, for your great work. secretary pompeo: thank you, mr. vice president. i think the vice president said it best. i just want to add to this thought that there obviously remains a great deal of work to do in the region. there's lots of challenges that remain, but this effort tonight sets the conditioners in successful resolution of this particular peace, which created enormous risk, a real risk of instability, and president's erdogan's decision to work alongside president trump to achieve this end will be one that i think will benefit turkey a great deal. thanks. i know you want to take some questions.

reporter: thank you very much. what do you -- sorry, how do you overcome, how will you overcome the damage that's been caused over the past week? there's been a lot of animosity between u.s. and turkey. a lot of things have been said, a lot of threats of economic sanctions have been made. how are you going to repair the relationship going forward? thank you. vice president pence: well, first, as you'll see from the agreement, part of our understanding is that with the implementation of a ceasefire, the united states will not impose any further sanctions on turkey. and once a permanent ceasefire is 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 ally, turkey, about american opposition to turkish

military forces entering syria. the president made that clear in his discussions and his correspondence with president erdogan and i believe that the candor and frankness that president trump applied to this and the strength of his relationship with president erdogan both contributed to the ability for this agreement to come about. now we will work together to implement this agreement. as i said, our team is already working with y.p.g. personnel in the safe zone for an orderly withdrawal outside the 20-mile mark and we're going to go forward together to bring peace and security to this region. i'm confident of that.

reporter: thank you, there are reports by some international organizations on how y.p.g. is treating ethnic and really just minorities in northern syria and christian leaders in turkey are making calls to the country to ensure peace and security in the region. i'm wondering your thoughts on this. vice president pence: let me let the secretary also address this, but i can tell you president erdogan and i spoke at great length about the importance of protecting religious minorities in the region. president erdogan also shared with me the perspective of many leaders in religious communities here in turkey who have great concerns about violence and persecution taking place along the border.

and so part of our agreement is to continue to work very closely to ensure that religious minorities can thrive and that religious pluralism is one of the characteristics of this safe zone for some time to come. mr. secretary question mark secretary pompeo: the -- mr. secretary? secretary pompeo? pompeo: the vice president and i heard from christian leaders around the world who expressed much of the same concern you just described. we think this reduction in violence this ceasefire, reduces the risk of that, so we think this greatly contributes to protecting religious minorities throughout syria and throughout the broader middle east, as well. this all happens in the context of lots of religious challenges, lots of challenges with religious persecution in iraq and other places.

we think this is an important contribution in that regard. the other thing that we talked about at some length, to the extent there are abuses that are identified, we'll ask each leader, certainly president erdogan and his team and other, investigate any allegations of abuse that have taken place. vice president pence: maybe add an addendum to that. one thing 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, yazidi, and other religious communities after the horrifying violence in syria and northern iraq. we'll 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. reporter: thank you, mr. vice president.

you mentioned that there's an organized withdrawal from y.p.g. fighters. can you explain that a little bit more, where they're going to withdraw to, what the future is for them? many in washington say they led part of the fight against the islamic state group, against isis. what do you see for the future of northern syria? do you see any future for the syrian kurds, politically, there? vice president pence: well, our commitment with turkey is that we will work with y.p.g. members and we also know, as syria defense forces, to facilitate an orderly withdrawal other the next 120 hours. 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 to embrace a ceasefire of military operations, to enable us to see to that orderly withdrawal of y.p.g. will, we believe, make it possible for that to occur. i know it's already under way as we speak. 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 into syria, we have always endorsed a safe zone. and it was a matter of discussion and negotiations and we believe 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 of a safe zone to create a buffer between syria proper and the kurdish population and the turkish border, and we're going to be working very closely. so we think the agreement today, first, ends the violence, which is what president trump sent us here to do. i said it again and again to president erdogan. president trump sent us here to end the violence. and to achieve an immediate ceasefire. and thanks to the agreement that we negotiated today and the strong stand that president trump took in the preceding days, 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 the 120-hour period, and after which there'll be a permanent ceasefire 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. >> last question. reporter: you mentioned that the united states opposed turkeys' incursion into northern syria, that erdogan had always wanted a sort of safe zone here. what concessions did you actually get out of president

erdogan, number one? number two, have you gotten specific assurances if the y.p.g. that they'll comply with the terms of the agreement because this is something they said they wouldn't do? and finally, with the kurds moving south and with the u.s. sanctions in terms of them moving south how would you address critics who would say this is bad for the kurds? vice president pence: well, i think you'll be able to see for yourself what concessions were made. president trump, in his phone call with president erdogan this week and in the directive he gave us to deliver, was clear. he wanted a ceasefire. he wanted to stop the violence. turkey is engaged in an active military operation. i can tell you that, as our discussions began over the course of the five-hour period of time, we reached a place of agreement about how a ceasefire

could benefit turkey, achieve president trump's objectives and also contribute to a peaceful resolution of the safe zone. and i believe that we've accomplished that. with regard to the y.p.g., syrian defense forces, we have been in contact today and we have received repeated assurances from them that they'll be going out. 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 very confident 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 think this is an outcome that will greatly serve the interests of the kurdish population in syria, greatly serve the interest of turkey, and it will create the kind of long-term buffer zone that will ensure peace and stability in the region. reporter: mr. vice president, just want to followup on that question. what specific concessions did turkey receive, specifically i want to ask you if they brought the issue up of the bank. vice president pence: not in the condition text of these negotiations. i think when we concluded the negotiations, the topic was raised and we informed them that that was a matter for the southern district of new york and the justice department.

but let me say the concessions that the united states have just made have to do with the fact that the president had 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 a pause of 120 hours, a ceasefire over the next five days, that we will not be implementing additional sanctions in that period of time. once we have a permanent ceasefire following the orderly withdrawal of all y.p.g. forces, the united states also agreed to withdraw the sanctions that were imposed on several cabinet officials and several agencies earlier this week.

reporter: to be clear, though, to nail it down, it was simply the sanctions that would be removed? nothing else was offered or given to turkey? vice president pence: yes. go ahead. reporter: thank you, mr. vice president. while you're here negotiating with the turks for several hours, can i finish real quick? weight. -- wait. using sanctions as a blackmail, he's a major ally for the sake -- [inaudible] vice president pence: the united states of america did not support turkey's military action in syria. president trump made that very clear to his friend, president erdogan. and 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 really believe today, today's ceasefire is a credit to president trump and to president erdogan. 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 two leaders. where there are differences between friends, it's important that friends let their feelings be known. president trump did that in this case. but it facilitated us being able to reach an agreement that's now resulted in a ceasefire and we believe will set the stage for creating a peaceful and stable safe zone and the united states is committed to achieving that

for all the people of this region. reporter: mr. vice president, can i finish my question that i started please? [inaudible] >> c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. and coming up friday morning, we'll discuss the latest on the house democrats impeachment inquiry, the south carolina republican congressman ralph norman, and virgin islands democratic delegate stacy plaskett. what she spends washington journal live 7:00 a.m. eastern friday morning. join the discussion. >> with friday on the c-span networks, the house returns at 9:00 a.m. eastern for work on the outsourcing accountability act, legislation requiring publicly trading companies to disclose annual reports to the

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staff mick mulvaney held a briefing at the white house to announce the 2020 g7 summit will be held at the president's private resort in florida. he also several -- answered several questions on the ukraine and implement an foreign policy. this is 20 minutes. >> hey, guys. to,t things first, i want -- i want to comment very briefly on mr. cummings passing. for those of you know, i was in congress and on the committee with him. and had a chance to work with him and he will be missed. he was a classy guy and i enjoyed working with him and condolences from my family and all the white house group to his family today. he will be sorely missed.