Pastor Andrew Brunson has repeatedly said that one of the things he felt God did through his imprisonment and trial was mobilize prayer for Turkey, a country with historical and spiritual significance. The unfolding drama in Turkey and Syria, involving Russia and the Kurds, is a call to pray. Pray for salvation to come to these Muslim nations, who may be at the heart of the spiritual battle for Muslims everywhere. Pray for revival and renewal in Russia. Pray for strength for the Christians in the area. Pray for wisdom for the foreign policy leaders of America, especially, Secretaries Pompeo and Esper, and President Trump. Here is an excerpt on recent developments. 

Russia and Turkey on Tuesday struck a deal to jointly patrol a large zone in northeast Syria recently monitored by American forces and to remove Kurdish forces that remain in the region as the U.S.-brokered Turkey cease-fire expired.

View Comments (3)

Filling a power vacuum sparked by President Trump’s to pull back U.S. forces in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Russian military police and Syria government forces will help push back U.S.-allied Kurdish forces from a 18-mile-deep buffer zone along the border on Wednesday.

There were no reports of major fighting when the U.S. cease-fire expired, as Kurdish officials said their fighters were obeying the mandate to pull back. The Russian-Turkish pact gives the Kurds roughly six days to evacuate virtually the entire strip along the Turkish border.

The political fallout from Mr. Trump’s decision continued to be felt in Washington as the State Department’s point man on the Syria crisis told a Senate panel Tuesday that he was not consulted prior to the announcement to U.S. forces were pulling back. The U.N. said Tuesday the Turkish incursion so far has damaged “critical infrastructure” in the area and displaced more than 176,000 people, including nearly 80,000 children.

In a sign of the bipartisan opposition to Mr. Trump’s move, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced legislation Tuesday denouncing Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria and urging Mr. Trump to halt his withdrawal of U.S. troops. . . .

Mr. Trump has slightly modified his original withdrawal plan, with the Pentagon saying a deployment of around 200 special operations forces may stay in eastern Syria to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State and safeguard valuable Syrian oil fields. But U.S. plans to relocated American troops from Syria to neighboring Iraq met resistance from Baghdad, where officials say the new troops have not been given permission to stay.

U.S. troops — who for five years fought alongside Kurdish forces in the fight to defeat the Islamic State caliphate — were pelted with potatoes that hit the sides of American armored vehicles as they departed a town in northeast Syria as part of the withdrawal. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CNN Tuesday the relocated U.S. forces would only be in Iraq temporarily before being sent home at a later date.

(Excerpt from Washington Times. Article by Lauren Meier)