Mike Pence in Turkey to halt Syria offensive as threat of further sanctions loom

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended as “strategically brilliant” his decision to pull American troops out of Syria as the House of Representatives overwhelmingly condemned the move in a rare bipartisan rebuke. A total of 129 members of Trump’s Republican Party joined Democrats as the House denounced the withdrawal of American troops from northern Syria in a 354-60 vote. The joint resolution called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to immediately halt military operations against Kurdish militants in Syria. In a sign of Trump’s deteriorating relationship with Congress, where the House is conducting an impeachment inquiry, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Charles Schumer walked out of what they said was an acrimonious White House meeting with Trump. Indonesia on alert as Isis fighters escape Syrian jails to awaken sleeper cells back home Schumer said Trump had called Pelosi a “third-rate politician” while the speaker said the president had experienced a “meltdown.” Trump then took to Twitter, accusing Pelosi of having her own “meltdown,” while adding that the Democratic leader “needs help fast!” “There is either something wrong with her ‘upstairs,’ or she just plain does not like our great Country,” the president wrote. US Vice-President Mike Pence arrived in Ankara on Thursday in a bid to secure a ceasefire to halt the Turkish offensive in Syria, a day after Trump threatened heavy sanctions over the operation. Pence and Erdogan were first holding a restricted bilateral meeting at the presidential complex, and were to be joined later by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials. Erdogan has so far rejected any attempts to broker a truce and has said that Turkey is not worried about further sanctions. Turkey’s week-long assault has created a new humanitarian crisis in Syria, with 160,000 civilians taking flight, a security alert over thousands of Islamic State fighters abandoned in Kurdish jails, and a political maelstrom at home for Trump. Trump has been accused of abandoning Kurdish fighters – who were Washington’s main allies in the battle to dismantle Isis’ self-declared caliphate in Syria – by withdrawing US troops from the border. Soon after, Turkey launched its offensive into northern Syrian. Trump has ‘meltdown’ after House condemns Syria withdrawal As Trump battled to control the political damage, the White House on Wednesday released a bizarre letter he had sent to Erdogan on October 9, in which he urged the Turkish president not to be a “fool” and a “tough guy”. “Let’s work out a good deal!” Trump said. “You do not want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy – and I will. “History will look upon you favourably if you get this done the right and humane way. It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things do not happen,” he wrote. Pence will meet Erdogan around 1130 GMT, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials are expected to hold talks with counterparts. A top aide to Erdogan, Ibrahim Kalin, met National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien on Wednesday and said he conveyed Turkey’s position. On Wednesday, Trump said he thought Pence and Erdogan would have a “successful meeting”, but warned of sanctions and tariffs that “will be devastating to Turkey’s economy” otherwise. Kalin said that Turkey’s foreign ministry was preparing to retaliate for the US sanctions. Trump’s critics say the US sanctions so far – including a hike to steel tariffs, a pause in trade talks, and sanctions on the defence and energy ministries – were too soft. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said they could be broadened, while Republicans in the US House of Representatives also indicated a sanctions legislation. Erdogan has dismissed the sanctions and rejected a global chorus of calls to halt the offensive, which Turkey says will create a “safe zone” extending 32km (20 miles) into northeast Syria to ensure the return of millions of Syrian refugees and clear the area of Kurdish fighters Ankara views as terrorists. Erdogan said Turkey would end its operation when Kurdish forces withdraw from the “safe zone”, adding that “no power” could deter Ankara’s operation until it reached its goals. European governments are worried the Turkish operation will allow the escape of some of the 12,000 suspected Isis fighters held in jails controlled by Syrian Kurds. Trump slaps sanctions on Turkey, demands ceasefire in Syria France’s top diplomat held talks in Baghdad on Thursday about transferring foreign jihadists from northern Syria, where Turkish incursions have triggered fears of mass jailbreaks, to be tried in Iraq. The issue was top of the agenda on Thursday for French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in his talks with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Ali al-Hakim, President Barham Saleh and Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday described Turkey’s military operation “a humanitarian drama with big geopolitical consequences”, and again called on Ankara to stop its assault in Syria. Speaking in parliament, she said the offensive strengthened the role of Russia and Iran in the region, and said the consequences of that “cannot be judged today”.