US President Donald Trump has lifted all sanctions on Turkey after Ankara agreed to a permanent ceasefire in Syria as the American troops left the "blood stained sand", allowing the Russian and Turkish forces to take over the territory controlled by America and the Kurdish military.
Trump had last week signed an executive order to slap sanctions against Turkish officials, raising of steel tariffs and ending negotiations on a USD 100 billion trade deal in protest against Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria.
The move by the US to remove sanctions comes after Turkey informed the Trump administration on Wednesday that the five-day pause that had been called on Thursday ended.
I have 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 northeast border region, Trump told reporters on Wednesday at the White House.
The sanctions will be lifted unless something happens that the US is not happy with, he said.
"Now we're getting out. A long time. We were supposed to be there for 30 days; that was almost 10 years ago. 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 sand, Trump said.
This was an outcome created by us, the United States, and nobody else, no other nation. Very simple. And we're willing to take blame, and we're also willing to take credit. This is something they've been trying to do for many, many decades, he said.
In an apparent reference to Russia and Turkey, the US President said, since then, others have come out to help, and we welcome them to do so."
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