MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th March, 2020) The number of attacks and instances of shelling in the Syrian province of Idlib has fallen since Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a new ceasefire agreement on Thursday in Moscow, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's center for Syria reconciliation, Rear Admiral Oleg Zhuravlev said at a press briefing on Monday.
"In accordance with the Russian-Turkish agreements, a ceasefire was introduced in the territory of the Idlib de-escalation zone at 00:01 local time on March 6, 2020 [22:01 GMT on March 5]. Due to these agreements, the number of shelling attacks has been regularly registered. During the course of the previous day, no registered shelling took place by illegal armed groups which are under Ankara's control," Zhuravlev stated.
The center for Syria reconciliation head did report that two instances of firing was reported in settlements in Latakia province, from positions belonging to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkestan Islamic Party terrorist organizations (both banned in Russia).
Zhuravlev added that a separate communications channel has been opened for dialogue between the Russian center for Syria reconciliation and Turkish military officials.
On Thursday, Erdogan traveled to Moscow for talks with Putin amid an escalation of violence in Idlib province. A joint document was adopted with both sides agreeing on a ceasefire to commence at midnight on the same day. Both parties also agreed to establish a security corridor on the M4 highway that connects the provinces of Latakia and Aleppo.
