On August 12, the Russian Military Police and the Turkish military conducted their 24th joint patrol on the M4 highway in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.
The joint patrol set off from the town of Tronba in southern Idlib and reached the town of Ain Hawr in northern Lattakia, completing its entire route. No incidents whatsoever were reported during the patrol.
Türkiye-Rusya Federasyonu Mutabakatı çerçevesinde; İdlib’teki M4 Karayolunda belirlenen Trumbah-Ayn Al Havr güzergâhının tamamında, kara ve hava unsurlarının katılımıyla 24’üncü Türk-Rus Birleşik Kara Devriyesi icra edilmiştir.#MSB #TSK pic.twitter.com/68iyeHP51d
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) August 12, 2020
This was the second joint Russian-Turkish patrol to complete its entire route. The first patrol to complete the route was the 23th, which took place on July 22.
A suicide bombing targeted the 21th patrol in July. Three Russian service members were injured in the attack, that also delayed Russian and Turkish plans to patrol the M4.
The M4 links the port city of Lattakia with Aleppo city, Syria’s industrial hub. Turkey must make steps to secure the highway under the March 5 agreement with Russia. Despite many delays, Ankara is honoring this term of the agreement.
While the work to secure the M4 highway is going as planned, tensions are mounting in Greater Idlib. The remaining terrorists in the region have been becoming more hostile. Turkey is encouraging the terrorists by deploying more and more troops in the region. Ankara’s forces are even attacking Syrian government troops on a regular basis. This could soon lead to a new escalation.
