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In the wake of an agreement between Russia and Turkey reached on northern Syria on October 22, US President Donald Trump held a statement for the press at the White House at 11.41 a.m. local time in US yesterday (October 23) and made remarks on the situation in northern Syria.
Starting his speech with a 40-minute delay, Trump once again underlined that "Turkey and Kurds have been fighting for centuries", thereby emphasizing that the US "has done them a great service."
Expressing his wishes for a permanent ceasefire in the region, Trump also announced that he "instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to lift all sanctions imposed on October 14 in response to Turkey's original moves against the Kurds in Syria's north east border region."
While Trump was holding his speech, the US sanctions against Turkey were removed from the sanctions' list of the Secretary of Treasury.
Trump made the following remarks in brief:
'We reserve the right to re-impose crippling sanctions'
"Early this morning, the government of Turkey informed my administration that they would be stopping combat and their offensive in Syria, and making the ceasefire permanent. And it will indeed be permanent.
"I have therefore instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to lift all sanctions imposed on October 14th in response to Turkey's original offensive moves against the Kurds in Syria's north east border region. So the sanctions will be lifted unless something happens that we're not happy with.
"Should Turkey fail to honor its obligations, including the protection of religious and ethnic minorities — which I truly believe they will do — we reserve the right to re-impose crippling sanctions, including substantially increased tariffs on steel and all other products coming out of Turkey.
'Turkey should abide by its commitments about ISIS'
"We also expect Turkey to abide by its commitment regarding ISIS. As a backup to the Kurds watching over them, should something happen, Turkey is there to grab them.
"Further, we implore European countries to come and take those fighters that the U.S. captured and bring them back to their countries for incarceration and for trial. Until just recently, Europe has been very unresponsive in doing what they should have been doing for a long time.
'Let someone else fight over this bloodstained land'
"Turkey, Syria, and all forms of the Kurds, have been fighting for centuries. We have done them a great service, and we've done a great job for all of them. And now we're getting out. A long time.
"We were supposed to be there for 30 days; that was almost 10 years ago. So we're there for 30 days, and now we're leaving. It was supposed to be a very quick hit and let's get out. And it was a quick hit, except they stayed for almost 10 years. Let someone else fight over this long-bloodstained land.
'General Mazloum has assured me about ISIS'
"We've secured the oil, and, therefore, a small number of U.S. troops will remain in the area where they have the oil. And we're going to be protecting it, and we'll be deciding what we're going to do with it in the future.
"I have just spoken to General Mazloum, a wonderful man, the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF Kurds. And he was extremely thankful for what the United States has done. Could not have been more thankful.
"General Mazloum has assured me that ISIS is under very, very strict lock and key, and the detention facilities are being strongly maintained. There were a few that got out — a small number, relatively speaking — and they've been largely recaptured." (PT/SD)
