MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. A Russian-Turkish coordinating center has begun operating in Syria to control the ceasefire and conduct joint patrols, Oleg Zhuravlev, the chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Parties in Syria, told reporters on Saturday.

"A joint coordinating center for interaction with the Turkish side has begun functioning to ensure the ceasefire and joint patrols," he said.

According to Zhuravlev, "engineering reconnaissance of the patrol itinerary was conducted outside Saraqib as part of preparations for joint Russian-Turkish patrols along the M-4 highway."

Apart from that, a communication channel keeps functioning for operational interaction between the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Parties and Turkish counterparts.

Zhuravlev recalled that under the Russian-Turkish agreements a ceasefire had been declared in the Idlib de-escalation zone at midnight on March 6.

"In the past day, two shelling attacks by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) were reported in the settlements of Saraqib in Idlib province and Janajiq in Latakia province," he said adding, "No shelling attacks by Turkey-controlled illegal armed groups were documented."

The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.