City
Epaper

Turkey, Russia hold 5th joint patrol in northern Syria

By IANS | Updated: November 12, 2019 22:20 IST

Turkish and Russian troops on Tuesday carried out their fifth joint patrol in northern Syria in the Ayn al-Arab region, as part of a deal over the withdrawal of Syrian Kurdish militia from Turkey's border.

Open in App

"The fifth Turkish-Russian joint land patrol conducted in the Ayn al-Arab region east of the Euphrates is continuing with due care and diligence for the safety of both civil and our military personnel despite provocation by terrorists," said a statement by the Turkish defence ministry, reports Xinhua news agency.

The statement referred to the protesters who threw stones at Russian and Turkish armoured vehicles as they passed through Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria.

The joint patrols are part of a memorandum between Ankara and Moscow to remove fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) 30 km from the Turkish border.

Ankara sees the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

On October 9, Turkey launched a military incursion into northern Syria in a bid to drive Kurdish fighters out of the border region, following the pullout of US troops.

The United States reached a deal with Turkey on October 17, imposing a five-day cease-fire to allow the Kurdish forces to pull back from the planned safe zone that Turkey wants to create in northern Syria to ensure its border security.

On October 22, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a meeting in Sochi, Russia, where they agreed on the pullout of the YPG fighters to 30 km south of Turkey's border within 150 hours and conducting joint patrols 10 km from the Turkish border in a region that excludes the city of Qamishli.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Northeastern SyriaTurkeyRussiaYPGAnkara
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalTurkish Oil Tanker MT Altura Carrying One Million Barrels of Russian Crude Hit by Drone in Black Sea Near Istanbul

InternationalIraq Resumes Oil Exports via Kurdish Pipeline Amid West Asia War and Supply Crisis

InternationalTurkey Plane Crash: Pilot Killed After F-16 Jet Crashes During Patrolling Near Balıkesir

Social ViralTurkey: Quick CPR Saves Bird's Life After Goalkeeper Accidently Hit Seagull With Ball in Istanbul

InternationalRussia Blocks WhatsApp: Meta-Owned Company Says Country Trying to Isolate Over 100 Million Users

International Realted Stories

InternationalWill take action against infrastructure of US, its allies, says Iran as Trump deadline looms

International"No military objective justifies deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian population": UN Chief on Trump's threat

International"Good and important": Ex-envoy Veena Sikri as Bangladesh FM begins India's visit

International"Truly unacceptable": Pope Leo XIV on Trump's threat to destroy Iranian civilisation

InternationalIDF claims it struck Iran's "central site" for production of underwater detection systems in Shiraz