The seventh joint patrol between Russian military police and the Turkish armed forces has started in northeastern Syria, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th November, 2019) The seventh joint patrol between Russian military police and the Turkish armed forces has started in northeastern Syria, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
The two sides completed their 6th patrol near the Syrian-Turkish border on Thursday.
"On November 16, starting at 10:00 a.m. [08:00 GMT] the joint patrol of Russian military police and the Turkish armed forces has begun operating in the border area located ... [near] Qamishli city," the ministry said in a statement.
The patrol started from the customs check post in the settlement of Deyrun Aga and will inspect the situation in Syria's northeastern settlements along the patrol route, with the help of the Russian Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle, which is monitoring the movement of the column in real-time.
The joint patrol includes eight units of military equipment � the Tigr and BTR-80 armored vehicles of the Russian military police and the Kirpi armored vehicles of the Turkish border service, as well as about 50 military personnel from both states.
On October 9, Turkey launched "Operation Peace Spring" in northeastern Syria targeting Kurdish militia, seen as terrorists by Ankara, and the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia). The move came days after US President Donald Trump abruptly decided to withdraw his country's troops from the region. Damascus has condemned the operation as a violation of Syria's sovereignty.
On October 22, Turkey and Russia concluded a memorandum that details conditions for a peaceful withdrawal of the Kurdish forces to a distance of 18.6 miles from the border with Turkey. The 10-point document envisions patrol missions carried out by the Russian military contingent in Syria and Turkish troops to ensure the implementation of the deal.
