US and Turkey Agree to Ceasefire in Syria
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We ran the numbers: There are 1641 news articles covering this topic. 63% (1030) are left leaning, 34% (553) center, 4% (58) right leaning.
On Thursday, the US and Turkey reached a deal for a five-day ceasefire deal in Turkey’s invasion of Syria, which would lift US sanctions against Turkey and require the Kurds to vacate the area of conflict in Northern Syria. Left-leaning articles tend to focus on the fact that this deal accomplishes many of Turkey’s aims, while right-leaning articles focus on Vice President Mike Pence’s success in negotiating a ceasefire and centrist articles focus on the Trump administration’s friendly rhetoric toward Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan.
A left-leaning article from the Washington Post reports that the terms of the ceasefire are particularly amenable to Turkey, allowing them to maintain their position in Syria after invading last week. The article notes, “the agreement essentially gives the Turks what they had sought to achieve with their military operation in the first place. After the Kurdish forces are cleared from the safe zone, Turkey has committed to a permanent cease-fire but is under no obligation to withdraw its troops. In addition, the deal gives Turkey relief from sanctions the administration had imposed and threatened to increase, meaning there will be no penalty for the operation.”
A right-leaning Fox News article, in contrast, reports Pence’s positive feelings about the deal. The article reports that Pence said that Erdogan knows that Trump means what he says when he says that he will slap Turkey with sanctions if they violate the terms of the ceasefire. When questioned whether Trump has the means to ruin Turkey’s economy if they violate the terms, as he has threatened to do, Pence assured reporters that the Trump administration has a suite of sanctions prepared should they become necessary.
A centrist article from The Hill focuses on Trump’s praise of Erdogan after the ceasefire was negotiated. The article reports that the president called the deal an “amazing outcome.” He also called Erdogan a friend, a “hell of a leader,” and a “tough man.” However, the article also notes that Turkey has gone back on similar deals in the past.