United States Vice President Mike Pence met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today at Ankara to push for a ceasefire in Syria.<br />''<br />'' Earlier, Ankara rebuffed international pressure to halt its deadly offensive against Kurdish forces. The visit comes a day after Mr Erdogan vowed to press ahead with Turkey's operation, which has been facilitated by the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria.<br />'' <br />'' The US has faced intense criticism for the withdrawal of troops, which critics say gave Turkey the green light to launch the military attack.<br />'' <br />'' Meanwhile, in his first remarks since deploying troops near the border to support Ankara's Kurdish rivals, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said today Syrian forces will counter Turkey's invasion by all legitimate means.<br />'' <br />'' On the other hand, Turkish President Erdogan rejected the letter of US President Donald Trump. In the letter dated 9th of October and sent after US troops were pulled out of Syria, Trump was urging Turkey not to launch a military offensive against Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria.<br />'' <br />'' The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, more than 3,00,000 civilians were displaced within Syria since the start of the assault. The monitor said, nearly 500 people have been killed including dozens of civilians, the majority on the Kurdish side.<br />''  <br />