Pompeo and Pence sent to Turkey, a meeting with Erdogan planned

(Washington) Kurdish forces in Syria attempted on Tuesday to repel Turkish troops engaged in a deadly offensive in the north of the country, which US President Donald Trump seeks to stop by sending his vice-president and his chief diplomat to Turkey. .

France Media Agency

Trump announced that Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would travel to Turkey on Wednesday to negotiate a "ceasefire". According to the White House, Pence will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday, who keeps repeating that he wants to continue the offensive against the Syrian Kurdish militia of the YPG, described as "terrorist".

By launching its offensive on 9 October to remove the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia from its border, Turkey has opened a new front in the complex war in Syria that has claimed more than 370,000 lives since 2011.

Several countries intervene militarily in Syria. US troops, present in the North to help the Kurds face the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group, have been ordered to leave. Abandoned face the Turkish forces, the Kurds have called for help the Syrian army was deployed, as well as Russian forces in the region.

The Turkish offensive provoked an international outcry and the UN Security Council is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday.

Turkey, however, has assured that it will continue its operation "with or without the support" of the world, denouncing the "dirty market" concluded between the Kurdish forces and the Assad regime.

Its stated goal is the creation of a "security zone" 32 km deep along its border, which will allow repatriate some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees settled in Turkey.

Since 9 October, Turkish forces and their Syrian counterparts have taken control of a border strip of nearly 120 km. A key city remains to be conquered, that of Ras Al-Ain.

Erdogan: Turkey will "never declare a ceasefire"

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan categorically rejected an American proposal to intervene for a ceasefire in northern Syria on Tuesday in daily statements Hurriyet.

He also said that the entry of the Syrian army into Minbej did not represent a "very negative" development for his country as long as the region is emptied of Syrian Kurdish fighters.

"For me, the entry of the regime into Minbej is not a very, very negative (development). Why ? Because it's their territory.

Erdogan reiterated his refusal of requests from US leaders. "They tell us to" declare a ceasefire ". We will never be able to declare a cease-fire "until Turkey has driven out the" terrorist organization "of the border, he told reporters in the plane that brought him back from Azerbaijan .

"They are putting pressure on us to stop the operation. We have a clear goal. We are not worried about the sanctions, "Erdogan said six days after Turkey launched its offensive to remove the Kurds from the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

US Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Erdogan on Thursday with the stated goal of securing an "immediate ceasefire" in northern Syria.

Pence will be accompanied in Turkey by Mike Pompeo, chief of the American diplomacy, Robert O'Brien, adviser to the national security, and James Jeffrey, American emissary for Syria, specified the White House.

The Vice President "will reaffirm Mr. Trump's commitment to maintain punitive economic sanctions against Turkey until a solution is found," said the US executive.

"We are calling for a ceasefire," said Trump, who on Monday called in a phone call with Erdogan to end his military offensive in Syria.

The forces of Bashar al-Assad's regime began to unfold on Tuesday in parts of northern Syria that were beyond their control, thanks to an agreement with the Kurdish authorities to contain the Turkish offensive.

Although regarded as "terrorists" by Ankara, the Kurdish militias of the People's Protection Units (YPG) are allies of the West in the fight against the jihadists of the IS, hence the international outcry sparked by the Turkish offensive.

Russian patrols

This is where the most intense fighting focus, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDS), dominated by YPG, between fierce resistance using a tunnel network. In the evening, clashes continued in western Ras al-Ain and near the city of Tal Abyad, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

At the call of the Kurds, the forces of the regime of Bashar al-Assad deployed on Monday in areas of the North, including Minbej where Syrian soldiers raised the national flag after the withdrawal of US soldiers.

In this explosive context, Russia stressed that it would not allow fighting between the Turkish and Syrian armies. They "are not in anyone's interest and would be unacceptable," said Russian envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev.

The Russian military police are conducting "patrols along the line of contact" between Syrian and Turkish forces in the Minbej area, according to Moscow.

However, two Turkish soldiers were killed in Ankara by shells fired from the Minbej area, where fierce night fights between Ankara's forces and the Kurds.

In seven days, 71 civilians, 158 fighters and 128 FDS proturcs fighters were killed, according to OSDH. Ankara lamented the deaths of six soldiers in Syria as well as 20 civilians by firing rockets at Turkish cities from Syria.

Suspension of aid

In addition, the offensive caused an exodus of 160,000 people according to the UN.

The Kurdish authorities were alarmed by the cessation of activities of "all" international NGOs and the withdrawal of their employees from the region where there are many camps hosting tens of thousands of displaced people.

The NGO Doctors Without Borders said it had had to "suspend the majority of its activities and evacuate all its international staff".

UN agencies continue their operations, despite the dangerous situation.

After announcing the departure of the Syrian north from nearly a thousand American soldiers, the United States has adopted sanctions against Turkish ministers but at the same time seeks to save their historic alliance with Turkey, which hosts strategic American bases. .

Paris and other European capitals have said they fear the escape of ISIS jihadists held by the Kurds during the assault.

But a US official assured that Washington had not "found at this stage of major escape" prisoners of the IS.