Russian and Turkish servicemen, who plan to participate in joint patrols in Idlib province, have held drills aimed at practicing various patrols. Patrols have not been conducted in the area for more than six months, so the exercise being held in the city of Sarakib will be a key to the success of the joint work, a spokesperson of the Turkish Armed Forces Command told reporters.
"We need to practice all the tasks again. I know all the people here are experienced. But it is important for us to work together as smoothly as possible," he said.
Idlib province is currently the only one in Syria where the ceasefire is still regularly violated. Russian-Turkish joint patrolling there stopped six months ago. Until then, the Russian military had been restraining the militants' activity on their own.
During the exercises Russian and Turkish servicemen trained how to move in a convoy, repulse an attack on it, evacuate the wounded and move to areas likely to be ambushed by fighters. A special system of signals provided by vehicles' lights on the move helped the troops to overcome the language barrier.
On the Russian side, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers and Tiger armored vehicles of the military police usually take part in the patrols, and on the Turkish side, Kirpi armored personnel carriers. Even in troubled Idlib, a heavily armed convoy is not an easy target for militants, so they usually do not show themselves in any way. But cases of attacks on patrols are still known, so training after a long break becomes the key to their success.
About the Russian-Turkish agreements
On October 22, 2019, Russian and Turkish presidents Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting in Sochi adopted a memorandum on joint actions to resolve the situation in northeastern Syria. According to the document, Russian military police and Syrian forces were deployed in areas bordering the Turkish security zone. On November 1 of the same year, Russian and Turkish militaries began joint patrols east of the Euphrates River.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Zuma \ TASS
Based on materials from TASS