ANKARA, November 12. /TASS/. Russian and Turkish servicemen are conducting the fifth joint patrol mission east of the Euphrates in Syria, despite provocations, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"The fifth Russian-Turkish ground patrol mission is underway near Ayn al-Arab [Kobani — TASS] east of the Euphrates. The due level of security is ensured for both civilians and the military personnel, despite terrorists’ provocations," it said.
On October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Sochi to agree on a ten-provision memorandum on joint operations to control the situation in northeastern Syria. Under the arrangement, Russian military police and Syrian border guards were deployed to Syrian territories outside the zone of Turkey’s Peace Spring operation. They are tasked to facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish units to a distance of 30 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border. The previous patrol missions were conducted east of the Euphrates on November 1 (near Qamishli), on November 5 (near Ayn al-Arab), on November 8 (between Qamishli and al-Malikiyah), and on November 11 (from Sheyreq along the Syrian-Turkish border).