Turkey, Russia hold 4th joint patrol in NW Syria

ANKARA

Turkish and Russian troops conducted fourth joint ground patrol in northwestern Syria in line with the Moscow agreement, Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

“Fourth joint Turkish-Russian land patrol was conducted today [Wednesday] by air and ground vehicles on M4 motorway in Syria’s Idlib province, as part of the earlier TR-RF agreement,” the ministry said on Twitter.

The M4 highway, also known as the Aleppo-Al Hasakah road, is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Turkey's southern border.

Turkey and Russia agreed on a protocol which urged parties to "cease all military actions along the line of contact in the Idlib de-escalation area starting from 00.01 [2101GMT] of March 6, 2020."

The protocol also noted that joint Turkish-Russian patrols would begin on March 15 along the M4 highway from the settlement of Trumba -- 2 km (1.2 miles) to the west of Saraqib -- to the settlement of Ain al-Havr.