Turkey, Russia carry out first joint patrol in Syria

Turkey and Russia have completed their first joint military patrol along a strategic highway in Syria’s northwestern region.
Under the recently agreed ceasefire, Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad will not seek to reclaim control over all of Idlib province, which is the last rebel stronghold in the country. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to help refugees return to their homes.
Both sides agreed to establish a security corridor along Idlib’s M4 highway and start joint patrols along the road from 15 March. The M4 highway links Syria’s east and west.
“Within the framework of the Moscow agreement, the 1st joint Turkish-Russian land patrol on the M4 highway has been completed with the contribution of air and land assets” the Turkish defence ministry said on Sunday.
The Russian defense ministry said that the patrol was cut short due to militant activity, and that Turkey would be given additional time “to take measures aimed at eliminating terrorist groups and ensuring the security of troops participating in joint patrols along the M4 highway”.
Earlier, Russian media reported that Moscow had sent military police and armoured vehicles to the patrol, which began from the settlement of Tronba in Idlib.
After the truce was signed, Erdogan threatened that his country would not shy away from even stronger military action in Idlib if the ceasefire is broken.
On 15 March, Syria’s civil war entered its 10th year. It started with a popular movement against Assad’s rule that was brutally repressed. Russia entered the war in 2015, aiding Assad in what it insisted was an anti-terrorist campaign against Islamic State, and what Western powers have seen as an attempt to root out opposition to Assad’s rule.
More than 380,000 people were killed in nine years and about half of the country’s population is displaced.