A photo taken from Turkey’s Sanliurfa province shows smoke rising after Turkish Armed Forces hit targets in Rasulayn, a town east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, on Monday.

Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Days after appearing to acquiesce to a Turkish invasion of northern Syria aimed at routing Washington’s Kurdish allies, the White House is officially reversing course, calling instead for a cease-fire, imposing economic sanctions and dispatching Vice President Pence to Ankara.

In an executive order issued Monday, President Trump declared that Turkey’s offensive “undermines the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, endangers civilians, and further threatens to undermine the peace, security, and stability in the region …”

The order halts a $100 billion trade deal being hammered out between Ankara and Washington, raises tariffs on Turkish steel to 50% and imposes sanctions on senior Turkish officials and the country’s defense and energy ministries.

“I am fully prepared to swiftly destroy Turkey’s economy if Turkish leaders continue down this dangerous and destructive path,” the president said. (Scott Neuman)

Posted by The non-Conformist