Turkey: Talks with Russia on Idlib, Syria 'positive'

ANKARA 

Talks between Turkish and Russian military officials on starting joint patrols in Idlib, northwestern Syria under the cease-fire deal reached last week are making progress, said Turkey’s defense chief on Wednesday.

"The negotiations continue in a positive and constructive way," Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in the Turkish capital Ankara.

"On March 15, we plan and are working to start a joint patrol along the M4 highway," the center of a 12-kilometer security zone, Akar added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week agreed on a new cease-fire for Idlib starting on March