A delegation headed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Turkey on Thursday to press President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to negotiate a ceasefire to end the bloodshed in Syria.

It comes slightly more than a week after Turkish troops swept across the border into northern Syria in a effort to create what Erdogan called a “safe zone” and targeted Kurdish militia groups who fought with the US against the Islamic State.

President Trump on Wednesday defended pulling American forces from the area — giving Erdogan the go-ahead to invade — saying it was “strategically brilliant.”

“Our soldiers are out of there, our soldiers are totally safe. They have to work it out. Maybe they can do it without fighting. Syria is protecting the Kurds,” the president told reporters at the White House.

Trump also wrote Erdogan, who has said he won’t broker a ceasefire, a letter warning him not to invade Syria and asked him “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool.”

Erdogan, according to reports, tossed the letter dated Oct. 9 in the trash.

“The letter Trump sent did not have the impact he expected in Turkey because it had nothing to take seriously,” a Turkish official told Reuters. “What is clear is that Turkey does not want a terrorist organization on its border and the operation will not stop because of the reaction that has been coming.”

Ankara views the Kurdish militia as a terrorist group that is linked to an insurgent group that has been fighting the government inside Turkey for decades.

Trump dismissed any responsibility for the fighters, who he said are “no angels,” and said the US had no stake in the conflict between Syria and Turkey.

“It’s been going on for a long time. Syria may have some help with Russia, and that’s fine. It’s a lot of sand. They’ve got a lot of sand over there. There’s a lot of sand they can play with,” Trump said.

But the president has taken a lot of heat over his decision to pull the troops, with critics arguing that the US is betraying a key ally.

The House on Wednesday voted 354-60 to condemn the withdrawal, and many lawmakers expressing concerns that ISIS fighters could escape Kurdish-run prisons in Syria and regenerate.

Top Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, questioned the president’s reasoning.

McConnell called the relationship with the Kurds “a great alliance.”

“I’m sorry that we are where we are. I hope the vice president and the secretary of state can somehow repair the damage,” the Kentucky lawmaker said.

Graham of South Carolina said Trump “will have American blood on his hands if he abandons Kurds because ISIS will come back, and if any American is killed anywhere because a resurgent ISIS, it will fall on the Trump administration like it did (former President Barack) Obama.”

Erdogan initially refused to meet with the delegation, which will also include National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, saying they would meet with their Turkish counterparts.

But he reversed himself later Wednesday.

With Post wires