U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is calling it a cease-fire for at least five days after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. The United States had issued economic sanctions against the Turkish government and threatened additional sanctions if the military operation was not halted. President Erdogan wants to remove Kurdish-led forces from the border area and create a safe zone where millions of Syrian refugees now in Turkey could be resettled. U.S. President Donald Trump faced heavy criticism after removing American troops from northern Syria, leaving U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters to face the Turkish military.

Tulin Daloglu, the publisher and chief editor of halimiz.com, said Turkey decided to take the action to cross the border into Syria and clear the zone from terrorist activities because there is an imminent threat from the terrorist groups that have accumulated and around the borderline. Daloglu said the Turkish president hasn't made a statement in response to Trump's letter, but noted the Turkish population reacted strongly against such letter.

Sirwan Kajjo, a Kurdish affairs analyst and journalist, said Turkey wouldn't allow the Kurdish entity to be established on its southern border. Turkey identifies the People's Protection Units (YPG) and its political wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), as an extension of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), which is a U.S.-designated terror group; however, the U.S. has been working with the YPG for at least five years and have helped defeat the Islamic State's (ISIL) physical caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq.  "Turkey has received a lot of threats from the Syrians so the Turkish argument is not as valued as official", said Kajjo.

Mohamad Ali, a correspondent in Syria for Press TV, said Syria will defend its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ali said the Syrian government renewed its utmost rejection of the Turkish military operation saying that the international community should take its responsibilities in pressuring the Turkish regime to stop this aggression and also put an end to its destructive policies that destabilized the region and cause insecurity. Ali mentions that Turkish intervention is causing civilian deaths. "The certain army will continue to advance and take control of areas on the borderline, but Russia plays an important role as a mediator between the Syrian government and Turkey", said Ali. 

Yuval Weber, an associate professor of Russian and Eurasian studies at Daniel Morgan Graduate School, said the motivation of President Trump is to quit the entire affair and let Russia take care of it, but the geopolitical motivation of Russia is trying to project Russian power and offer assistance to both sides as the mediator.  "Although people hope to end the war, President Putin has a motivation to keep this going as long as possible because he wants to present himself as the only person who can bring everyone to the table," said Weber. 

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