Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 18, 2019

Hilal Köylü and Daniel Bellut, DW: Northern Syria: How stable is the ceasefire?

Washington and Ankara have agreed to a ceasefire in northern Syria, but the deal leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Experts say these will present hurdles on the way to establishing a safe zone.

US Vice President Mike Pence and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to a five-day ceasefire in northern Syria when they met in Ankara on Thursday, which went into effect at 10:00 p.m. local time that evening. The deal was preceded by a massive Turkish military operation. Now, Syrian Kurds from the People's Protection Units (YPG) are to withdraw from the so-called safe zone that is to be established along the Syrian-Turkish border. The Turkish president envisions a zone that will stretch 32 kilometers (20 miles) inland along the 444-kilometer-long border.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 18, 2019

Exclusive: Surprise Syria truce hinged on Turkey's deadline demand - top official -- Orhan Coskun and Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters

Syria Cease-Fire May Not Be a Win for Turkey -- Bloomberg

Cease-Fire Chaos: The Kurds, Turkey, and Trump Administration are Touting Different Strategies -- Matthew Petti, National Interest

Trump’s Response to the Crisis in Northern Syria: A Case of Principled Realism in Action? -- Jim Cook, National Interest

General discontent: how the president's military men turned on Trump -- Ed Pilkington, The Guardian

Protests over economy, corruption target Lebanon's elite -- DW

Qatar ramps up its defenses -- Sajad Abedi, Asia Times

Chinese mainlanders living in Hong Kong feel stuck between a rock and a hard place -- Wen Liu, NBC

The new Brexit deal: Will it pass? -- DW

Boris Johnson may be celebrating his victory in Brussels, but the Brexit rollercoaster rides on -- Samantha Hawley, The Guardian

Catalan protesters: 'We want to make a point' -- Mercedes Iniguez, DW

Why Barcelona Is Burning -- The Wall Street Journal

Most valuable brands: Apple, Google, Amazon -- Lee Shin-hyung, Asia Times