Turkey and Russia will start joint patrols in Idlib northwestern Syria on March 15 under the cease-fire for the embattled province reached this week, Turkey’s defense minister said Friday.
SECURITY CORRIDOR WILL BE ESTABLISHED
“As of March 15, we will start joints patrol along the M4 [highway]. We started working on the principles of the security corridor to be established along the highway,” Hulusi Akar said in Turkey’s southern Hatay province, bordering Syria.
A Russian military committee will visit Turkey early next week, he added. “We expect a permanent cease-fire, and to provide the environment for the return of more than 1 million innocent displaced people, 81% of them women and children,” he said.
Warning againt attacks on Turkish troops in the region, which have sown chaos since the beginning of the year, he stressed: “We would like everyone to know that we will intensely retaliate for any attack on Turkish troops or observation posts in Idlib under our right to self-defense.”
On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to a new cease-fire for Idlib effective as of midnight Thursday.
Under the agreement, all military activities are to end in Idlib, with the establishment of a security corridor 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) to the north and south of the key M4 highway.
Joint Turkish-Russian patrols will also 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, according to the deal.
