Russian and Turkish Forces to Begin Joint Syria Patrols on Saturday

Following the halting of a large scale Turkish offensive into northern Syria, Turkish and Russian forces have agreed to jointly patrol Kurdish regions in northern Syria from Friday November 1st. As Western aligned Kurdish forces withdraw from the region through a specially arranged safety corridor, a 20 mile ‘safe zone’ along the Syrian-Turkish border will be established on a temporary basis. Kurdish forces whcih prevuouskh controlled the region with U.S. and French support will be replaced by soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army and Russian military police. These plans were announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 30th, and are intended to maintain security within ‘safe zone.'

Russia launched a large scale military intervention in support of the Syrian government to target jihadist insurgent groups from September 2015 - a move initially met with hostility in Turkey resulting in the shooting down of a Russian strike fighter by the Turkish Air Force. A failed military coup against the government in Ankara the following year however led the country to quickly invest in mending ties with Moscow - with the Western Bloc and their Middle Eastern allies suspected of having colluded to overthrow the Turkish government. Turkey and Russia have since established a high degree of military cooperation, with orders placed by the former for advanced Russian hardware such as S-400 missile systems and the two powers closely coordinating to avoid confrontation in the Syrian theatre. With Damascus demanding that Turkish troops leave the country however, it is unclear how long Moscow intends to condone an unwanted foreign military presence on the soil of its close ally.