Russian military police patrolled parts of the Turkish-Syrian border in accordance with a recent memorandum between Ankara and Moscow, the country's
Russian military police patrolled parts of the Turkish-Syrian border in accordance with a recent memorandum between Ankara and Moscow, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
“On October 24, a column of Russian military police patrolled a new route on the Syrian-Turkish border. The length of the patrol route from the city of Qamishli in northern Syria to the settlement of Abouda equaled more than 60 kilometers [37 miles],” said the ministry.
According to the ministry, the police also helped the removal of elements of the YPG/PKK terrorist group and their weapons to a distance of 30 km (18.6 miles) from the Syrian-Turkish border.
On Oct. 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a meeting in Russia’s Black Sea resort town of Sochi.
Ankara and Moscow reached a deal under which YPG/PKK terrorists will pull back 30 km south of Turkey’s border with northern Syria within 150 hours and security forces from Turkey and Russia will conduct joint patrols there.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.