Turkey announces ceasefire in Syria as Australia ISIS brides and children cannot be protected
Peter Dutton has confirmed Australian IS brides and their children being held in refugee camps in Syria will not be pulled out, despite Turkey’s ceasefire.
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Peter Dutton has confirmed Australian women and children being held in refugee camps in Syria will not be pulled out, despite Turkey’s ceasefire.
“The advice is consistent to us, and that is that there’s not an opportunity, given the danger there at the moment,” he said on Friday.
“We’ve been able to bring back some orphans, as you know, but we’re not in a position where we’re able to go into those camps.
“But we have been very clear — we’re not going to put Australian defence, foreign affairs, or home affairs personnel or other agencies’ staff at risk.”
Mr Dutton said he hoped the ceasefire will last.
“I hope that, like every observer of this, that there can be peace and people can return back to their villages,” he said.
“We know that in the original Syrian conflict there were about five million people who were displaced. So, this has always been a very difficult part of the world, we know that, and I hope that conflict can come to an end as soon as possible.”
His comments come as Turkey has agreed to suspend its Syria offensive for five days and will end the assault if Kurdish-led forces withdraw from a safe zone along the border.
The agreement for the 120-hour pause eased what had escalated into an unprecedented crisis between the United States and Turkey, but critics quickly accused President Donald Trump of again abandoning Kurdish allies.
Under the deal reached after Pence flew to Ankara, Kurdish forces will have to withdraw from an area 32 kilometres deep, becoming a “safe zone” long sought by Turkey, which brands the fighters as “terrorists”.
Trump paved the way for the week-long Turkish incursion by withdrawing US troops but he later imposed sanctions and threatened to destroy the NATO ally’s economy as he came under fire at home.
After talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that stretched hours longer than expected, US Vice President Mike Pence told reporters that Turkey’s operation “will be halted entirely on completion” of the pullout of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and, following that, the US would withdraw sanctions.
Pence said the United States would work with the PG, the Kurdish fighters who dominate the SDF, “to facilitate an orderly withdrawal in the next 120 hours.” SDF chief Mazlum Abdi said the forces were “ready to abide by the ceasefire” covering the area from Ras al-Ain to Tal Abyad.
TRUMP’S LETTER TO TURKEY
Yesterday, Trump sent a private letter to the Turkish President, warning him against “slaughtering thousands of people”.
The letter, hwich has been verified by the White House, sees Trump call on Turkey’s leader to negotiate a “good deal”.
The letter states in full:
Dear Mr. President,
Let’s work out a good deal! You don’t 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. I’ve already given you a little sample with respect to Pastor Brunson.
I have worked hard to solve some of your problems. Don’t let the world down. You can make a great deal. General Mazloum is willing to negotiate with you, and he is willing to make concessions that they would never have made in the past. I am confidentially enclosing a copy of his letter to me, just received.
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 don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!
I will call you later.
Sincerely,
Donald Trump
EXCLUSIVE: I have obtained a copy of â¦@realDonaldTrumpâ©â€™s letter to #Erdogan. â¦@POTUSâ© warns him to not “be a tough guy! Don’t be a fool!†Says he could destroy Turkey’s economy if #Syria is not resolved in a humane way. Details tonight at 8pm #TrishRegan #FoxBusiness pic.twitter.com/9BoSGlbRyt
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) October 16, 2019
AUSTRALIA CAN’T GUARANTEE SAFETY
The letter comes as Turkey’s ambassador to Australia says the country can’t guarantee the safety of Australian Islamic State (IS) brides and their children trapped in a Syrian camp.
However Korhan Karakoc insists the women and their families are not facing any immediate danger, despite Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria approaching the al-Hawl camp.
“There is no imminent threat for those in that camp, unless those who guard that camp release them intentionally,” Mr Karakoc told The Australian.
The ambassador said Turkey would take custody of IS fighters and their families being held in al-Hawl.
“We are also ready to work together with the countries of origin and international organisations for the rehabilitation of spouses and children,” Mr Karakoc said.
He also said Australia and the United States backing the Kurds was a huge mistake.
Conditions at al-Hawl, where more than 60 Australian women and children are held, have deteriorated since the US announced its withdrawal from northern Syria.
This prompted the entry of Turkish fighters to the area in an offensive against Kurdish fighters, who Turkey classifies as terrorists.
HANSON: ‘YOU’VE MADE YOUR BED’
Earlier this week, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson rejected calls for the government to intervene.
“You’ve made your bed, you sleep in it,” she said to the IS brides.
Hanson today told Sky News she did not share the views of Labor Senator Kristina Keneally, who has called on the government to bring home the IS women and children stuck in Syria.
“Nope, nope, no,” Hanson said.
“The response I’ve had from people on my Facebook page — Australians don’t want them back in the country.”
Keneally has argued Australia could monitor anyone repatriated, but Hanson questioned the ongoing costs and said it was likely they would rely on welfare.
“You tell me the employment prospects of these people,” Hanson said.
This comes as it has been revealed another two Australians — a mother and child — have been found in the al-Hawl camp for IS family members.
Kamalle Dabboussy, whose daughter and granddaughter are in the camp, today said in a Canberra press conference the recently discovered pair were frightened.
“We have found an extra two Australians in the camp that have been very fearful to step out. There’s a mother and a child. The child is seriously ill,” he said.
TRUMP’S CRIPPLING SANCTIONS
Trump early this week announced he will impose crippling sanctions on Turkey in retaliation for its deadly invasion of northeastern Syria.
Steel tariffs on Turkey will be increased back up to 50 per cent and talks on a $100 billion trade deal between the two countries will stop.
Meanwhile, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie is yet to make up her mind on which way she will vote on the Medevac appeal legislation, but said the recent conflict in the Middle East could affect her decision.
Lambie will likely be the swing vote, with One Nation and Centre Alliance firmly backing their respective for and against positions on the repeal.
The Medevac bill was introduced by Labor and the Greens earlier this year and allows a medical panel to approve medical transfers for asylum seekers from offshore detention to Australia.
It comes after Foreign Minister Marise Payne declared Turkey alone is responsible for the escape of IS fighters from custody in Syria.
“This order will enable the United States to impose powerful additional sanctions on those who may be involved in serious human rights abuses, obstructing a ceasefire, preventing displaced persons from returning home … or threatening the peace, security or stability in Syria,” Mr Trump said in a statement.
“The United States and our partners have liberated 100 per cent of ISIS’s ruthless territorial caliphate. Turkey must not put these gains in jeopardy.”
The statement comes after Mr Trump was criticised for his announced withdrawal of US troops from Syria, which Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan saw as a green light to attack his enemy, the Kurds in northeastern Syria.
The former US ally, who helped fight IS, has now joined forces with Russian backed Syrian government forces, who have been advancing towards the border to fight back against the Turkish invasion.
There are fears that thousands of ISIS prisoners under guard of Kurdish forces will escape. Hundreds of family members of ISIS members have already fled, according to reports.
Some Syrian government troops had reached the border areas, including the town of Manbij overnight.
Turkish television reported that its special forces and commandos were also heading towards Manbij early on Tuesday creating a potential flashpoint.
Turkey wants to set up a 30km buffer zone inside the Syrian border to push back Kurdish soldiers, where it also plans to dump millions of refugees.
The Turkish attack was this morning on a 200km front, stretching the undermanned Kurdish majority Syrian Democratic Forces.
The only winner of the new conflict, which has displaced more than 130,000 people, has been ruthless Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who now has a foothold in an area of Syria he abandoned in 2012.
The Syrian ruler has been accused of using chemical weapons against his own people to crush an uprising, which began in 2011.
Mr Erdogan has refused to stop his invasion, despite phone calls from world leaders demanding he end the attack immediately.
Russian officials have been speaking with Turkish diplomats to try to solve the conflict, but Turkey has refused to negotiate with the Kurds, who it claims were terrorists.
US TROOPS ORDERED TO LEAVE
Meanwhile, the Pentagon began removing all its troops in northern Syria on Monday, after Mr Trump ordered them to leave in the face of Turkey’s attacks on Kurds in the area.
Nearly 1000 troops will vacate the country, leaving behind only a small contingent of 150 in the southern Syria base at Al Tanf, the official said.
“We are executing the order,” the official told AFP.
Mr Erdogan has been pressing a deadly assault against Kurdish forces — a key US ally in the five-year battle to crush the Islamic State group — in northeastern Syria since Wednesday last week.
Mr Trump, whose order to pull back US special forces from the border effectively triggered the incursion, has faced a firestorm of criticism for appearing to give NATO member Turkey the green light for the push.
On Sunday, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Mr Trump had ordered the withdrawal of the remaining troops deployed in northern Syria, with the US seeking to avoid getting caught between two allies.
But Mr Esper did not make clear whether the troops would simply pull back to a position further south or quit the country completely.
Mr Trump’s critics accuse him of abandoning the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who Ankara says support Kurdish rebels inside Turkey.
