Turkey, Russia conduct 1st joint patrol in Syria
03 November, 2019
Turkish and Russian troops in armored vehicles conducted their first joint ground patrols in northeast Syria on Friday under a deal between the two countries that forced a Kurdish militia away from territory near Turkey’s border.
Turkey and allied Syrian rebels launched a cross-border offensive on Oct. 9 against the Kurdish YPG militia, seizing control of 120 kilometers of land along the frontier.
Last month, Ankara and Moscow agreed to remove the militia fighters to a distance of at least 30 kilometers south of the border and Russia has told Turkey that the YPG left the strip.
Turkish armored vehicles on Friday drove across the border to join their Russian counterparts, according to Reuters television footage filmed from the Turkish side of the border. Around four hours later, they returned to Turkey.
Ground and air units were involved in the patrol around the Syrian border town of Darbasiya, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter, showing photos of soldiers studying a map and of four armored vehicles.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had information that the YPG, which Ankara sees as a terrorist group because of its ties to Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey, had not completed its pullout.
Russia is the Syrian government’s most powerful ally and helped it turn the tables in the country’s civil war by retaking much of the country from rebels since 2015. The Turkish-Russian deal last month allowed Syrian government forces to move back into border regions from which they had been absent for years.
Ankara launched its offensive against the YPG following U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt withdrawal of 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria in early October. The YPG helped the United States smash the Islamic State “caliphate” in Syria.
Four Russian vehicles and a drone also took part in Friday’s patrol, conducted in an area between 40 kilometers east of Ras al Ain and 30 kilometers west of Qamishli, a Turkish security source said.Speech