Turkey

President Trump welcomed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Oval Office just weeks after Turkish forces stormed into Syria. But in Congress, there's a bipartisan push to punish Turkey.

The U.S. president welcomed the Turkish leader to the White House for talks about Syria and also Turkey's decision to buy a Russian defense system.

"They told us, even if you stand here for 100 years, we are not going to let you cross," one refugee who made it to an Iraqi camp tells NPR. Many have resorted to paying smugglers to help them cross.

Turkey says U.S. officials should not meet with Syrian Democratic Forces chief Mazloum Abdi, whom Ankara considers a terrorist. In Syria, U.S. forces are preparing to protect the eastern oil fields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to jointly patrol an area in northern Syria previously controlled by Kurdish forces with U.S. support.

The vice president led a delegation to try to persuade the Turkish president to stop the military push and enact a cease-fire. The Turkish foreign minister says the deal brokered is not a cease-fire.

Here is what it was like in the northern part of the country as the Syrian military started advancing to retake territory after the U.S. made way for Turkey's incursion against the Kurdish forces.

Kurdish forces in northern Syria relied on American troops to help them maintain control of the region. Now, they are aligning themselves with Syrian forces that are backed by Russia.

The U.S. will pull hundreds of troops amid air strikes and gunfire from Turkish-backed forces. "We're preparing, waiting for the order," a U.S. official close to the troops on the ground told NPR.

As Turkey's operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria continues, the U.S. military is finding itself caught in the crossfire.