Pompeo Must Act On Reports Turkish Troops Operate Outside Syria Safe Zone - US Senators

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th November, 2019) A bipartisan group of five US Senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to act on reports that the Turkish military is operating outside the agreed safe zone in northeast Syria.

"There have been numerous accounts that Turkish and/or Turkish backed forces are attacking Syrian Kurds near Tal Tamr," the letter said on Wednesday. "If so, these attacks would violate the separate ceasefire agreements Ankara forged with both Washington and Moscow. We ask that the administration take immediate action against Turkey if these reports are true."

The signatories of the letter - Senators Chris Van Hollen, Lindsey Graham, Richard Blumenthal, Marsha Blackburn and Jeanne Shaheen - are among the strongest critics of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US military form northeast Syria.

Within days of Trump's decision, Turkey undertook a military operation against Kurdish forces in the area. However, the United States and Turkey agreed to a 120-hour ceasefire on October 17 to allow for the withdrawal of the Kurdish fighters.

As the five-day ceasefire came to an end, Turkey and Russia reached a deal that would see the Kurdish fighters pull back from the border area with Turkey. In addition, the two countries have begun joint patrols in the operation zone in Syria along the border with Turkey.