America ready to destroy Turkey's economy for military offensive in northern Syria: Trump

US President Donald Trump has said, America is ready to swiftly destroy Turkey's economy in response to the NATO allay's military offensive in northern Syria.

President Trump's statement comes after he imposed sanctions on Turkish ministries and senior officials, proposed to raise steel tariffs and end negotiations on a 100 billion dollar trade deal with Ankara. 

He said this order will enable the US to impose powerful additional sanctions on those who may be involved in serious human rights abuses, obstructing a ceasefire, preventing displaced persons from returning home, forcibly repatriating refugees or threatening the peace, security or stability in Syria. 

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Vice-President Mike Pence yesterday said, the US President also phoned his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to demand an immediate truce. 

The Turkish offensive, which began last week, aims to push the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the border region. Turkey considers the biggest militia in the SDF a terrorist organisation.

The Turkish government wants to create a "safe zone" in the area, where it can resettle up to two million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey.

According to the United Nations, dozens of civilians have been killed in the operation so far and at least one lakh sixty thousand have fled the area.