Turkey's gamble on Syria, A victory shortlived?
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ANAKARA - A US-brokered ceasefire to end the Turkish offensive on Kurdish forces in Syria link is a victory for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan link but could be short-lived without an agreement link with Damascus link ally Russia link, say analysts.
After US Vice President Mike Pence held talks with Erdogan link on Thursday, the NATO link allies announced a five-day suspension of the Turkish operation and the withdrawal from link border link areas of a Syrian link Kurdish militia viewed by Ankara link as "terrorists".
Erdogan won his key demands to sweep Kurdish fighters away and set up a "safe zone" that is 32-kilometres (20 miles) wide but whose length is yet to be defined.
The Turkish leader wants the area to extend eventually to 444 kilometres.
But whether the agreement link holds depends on negotiations with Russia link, which provides critical backing to Syrian link leader Bashar al-Assad.
"Turkey link looks like a short-term winner because of the factthat Ankara link was able to break the YPG-US ties," said Soner Cagaptay,director for Turkey link at the Washington link Institute for Near East Policy.
