1 Nov 2019 18:54

First Russian-Turkish patrol in northern Syria successfully completed - Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - The Russian military and Turkish border guards have successfully completed their first joint patrolling mission in northern Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"The joint patrol of the Russian military police and Turkish border service has completed its first joint patrolling mission of the Syrian-Turkish border," the statement said.

The mission was a success, it said.

"The first joint mission involved patrolling an itinerary of over 110 kilometers west of the customs checkpoint in Derbesiya, six kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border and back. The total time length was around four hours. On the way, the joint patrol inspected the situation in several major populated areas," the statement reads.

The mission was carried out in accordance with a Russian-Turkish memorandum signed in Sochi on October22, 2019.

The patrol team helped with providing public safety and maintaining public order and monitored compliance with the memorandum's requirement for the Kurds to remove their self-defense forces and weapons 30 kilometers away from the border, the ministry said.

The patrol consisted of nine armored vehicles (Russia's Tiger and Typhoon and Turkey's Kirpi). The column's safety throughout the mission was provided by the Russian military police armored vehicle BTR-82.