Pence, Pompeo, head to Ankara for emergency talks

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo headed to Turkey on Wednesday for emergency talks to try to persuade Ankara to halt an assault on northern Syria. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out American forces ahead of a Turkish offensive into northern Syria has shattered the relative calm there and he has been criticized for abandoning Kurdish militia who helped the United States defeat Islamic State militants in the region.

Washington's hasty exit has created a land rush between Turkey and Russia to partition the formerly U.S.-protected Kurdish area. Trump's action is widely seen as giving a green light for Turkish forces last week to attack the Syrian Kurdish militia.