afrinpost – Exclusive
Sources close to the Damascus government, cited by the newspaper “Al-Watan,” have reported the imminent commencement of joint Russian-Turkish military patrols on the Aleppo-Latakia (M4) highway. These patrols will cover the section connecting the town of Tarnaba, west of Saraqib in eastern Idlib, to Tell Hour in northern Latakia, preparing the road for use.
The first joint patrol on this international highway occurred on March 15, 2020, starting from Tarnaba, located two kilometers from Saraqib, to Tell Hour.
The opening of the international highway was a key point of the Sochi Agreement (Russia-Turkey) on September 17, 2018, which included the establishment of a 20 km demilitarized zone. However, the agreement’s implementation faced delays until Syrian regime forces launched a military operation, capturing numerous areas in southern Idlib and Saraqib on February 5, 2020, two days after taking control of the village of Tarnaba, bringing them within 6 km of Idlib city.
On March 5, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached a ceasefire agreement, establishing a safe corridor along specified sections of the M4 highway.
The M4 highway is a strategic corridor linking Syria’s coast (especially Latakia) with Idlib, Aleppo, and eastern Syria, holding significant economic importance. Ankara aims to reopen major routes from Turkey into Syria, and subsequently to Lebanon, Jordan, and the Gulf states. The initial steps towards this goal included the reopening of the Abu Zendin crossing in al-Bab for truck movement.
