Russian military police patrolled new parts of the Turkish-Syrian border in accordance with the recent memorandum between Ankara and Moscow, the country's Defense Ministry said yesterday.
"On Oct. 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," said the ministry.
According to the ministry, the police also helped remove elements of the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian branch, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), and their weapons to a distance of 30 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border.
It was also later announced that 300 Russian military police arrived at the Turkey-Syria border as part of patrolling activities.
On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 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 the YPG and PKK terrorists will pull back 30 kilometers south of Turkey’s border with northern Syria within 150 hours, and security forces from Turkey and Russia will conduct joint patrols in the area.
The foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia also on Thursday discussed the recent deal between the two countries on northern Syria in a phone call.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov discussed the progress in implementing the memorandum of understanding signed after a meeting between Ankara and Moscow in Sochi on Oct. 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The parties agreed to continue coordinating their efforts to stabilize the situation in northeastern Syria as soon as possible," the statement said.
NATO meeting centers on N Syria
Meanwhile, NATO defense ministers on Thursday discussed a wide range of issues, including the situation in northeastern Syria, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
"There are different views among allies, and we had a frank and open discussion, but we focused on the way forward," Stoltenberg told reporters after the first day of meetings in Brussels.
Stoltenberg said "significant" reductions in violence have been seen in northern Syria over the last week.
"We agree we must build on this to make progress in our efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria, and we fully support U.N.-led efforts to reach a political solution," he added.
On the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met with the U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. The ministers discussed the latest developments in Syria.
Akar and Esper exchanged views on Turkey's anti-terror operation in northeastern Syria, defense and security. The ministers agreed to continue with contacts.
Akar also met British Security Minister Ben Wallace and his German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. They discussed issues related to defense and security.