ANKARA, March 8. /TASS/. The armed forces of Turkey and Russia will start joint patrols in the Syrian region of Idlib in the country’s north on March 8, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said at a meeting with editors of the Anadolu news agency on Friday.

"Today, patrolling will begin in Idlib. Russia will carry it out along the borders of Idlib while Turkey will do this in the areas where arms have been seized from terrorists," the defense minister said.

The joint patrolling by Moscow and Ankara "is important from the standpoint of maintaining the ceasefire in the north-west of Syria," he said.