ANKARA, October 31. /TASS/. The Turkish military is continuing efforts to clear northeastern Syria of mines ahead of joint patrols with Russia in the area, the Anadolu Agency said, adding that the activity was underway in and around the city of Tel Abyad, including those areas from where Kurdish units had withdrawn.

Russian military police officer Ivan Zhukov told reporters on Thursday that Russian military police stationed in Syria were departing from the Aylishar border crossing in northern Syria for joint patrols with the Turkish forces.

The patrol mission will be conducted by a convoy of three Tigr all-terrain infantry mobility vehicles and one armored personnel carrier. The 160-km route will lie along the Syrian-Turkish border, with a depth of 10 km into Syrian territory.

On October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Sochi to adopt a memorandum on joint action to settle the situation in northeastern Syria. Russian military police and Syrian troops were to be moved to the regions bordering the Turkish zone of occupation in Syria as of noon of October 23.

Kurdish forces were given 150 hours to vacate the 30-kilometer strip of land along the Turkish border. After that, Russian and Turkish military were to begin joint patrols. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that the pullback of Kurdish forces from the security zone in northeastern Syria had been completed ahead of time. After that, Russia and Turkey are to begin joint patrols in the 10-km zone along the border to the west and east of the area of Turkey’s operation, except for the city of Qamishli. According to the Turkish president, joint patrols will set out on their mission on Friday.