WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2019) US lawmakers should hold off on imposing new sanctions against Turkey and build on this week's ceasefire agreement aimed at pausing Ankara's incursion into northwest Syria, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a press briefing on Friday.
"I would think I would take a pause right now, and I would let them do the work, they just came back from a very successful meeting," McCarthy said when asked whether he supports holding a vote next week on sanctions.
On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence announced in Ankara that he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to a 5-day ceasefire in northeastern Syria to allow the withdrawal of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from the border area.
"Before we moved anything [sanctions legislation], I think we would have to have a meeting as a whole, listen to the latest information on the ground, and with that success let's build towards even more," McCarthy said.
US lawmakers in both the House and Senate have proposed several bills to impose sanctions on Erdogan and other senior officials, and ban transactions with the country's defense, petroleum and natural gas sectors, among other measures.
The bills were introduced after Turkey on October 9 launched its Operation Peace Spring, saying it wanted to clear its southern border of the YPG, which it regards as a terrorist group.
Turkey's incursion came on the heels of the US withdrawal from the territory, following an October 6 phone call between Erdogan and President Donald Trump.
