Enab Baladi – Khaled al-Jeratli
Joint Russian-Turkish patrols have resumed in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria, under the Sochi agreement signed between the two sides in late 2019, after more than a year of suspension due to security concerns.
Russian News Agency TASS On August 23, joint Turkish-Russian ground patrols in Syria resumed, noting that Moscow plans to continue this joint activity in the future.
For its part, Turkey Anadolu Agency He cited a statement from the Turkish Defense Ministry announcing the resumption of patrols after nearly a year of interruption.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said on the same day that the aim of continuing the joint ground patrol activities was to ensure the security of Turkish borders and civilians in the region.
The statement also stressed that the patrols aim to identify checkpoints, headquarters and military structures of the SDF, which Turkey considers an extension of the “Kurdistan Workers' Party” (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey.
The Turkish ministry also said at the time that the patrols are operating in areas from which the PKK is expected to withdraw in accordance with agreements Turkey has reached with the United States and Russia.
Patrols have been active in the region since 2019 and ceased in 2023, but have left no impact on the ground. Does their resumption then indicate a fundamental change in the course of events in the region?
Patrols over the years
Joint Russian-Turkish patrols typically target two main areas in northern and eastern Syria. Turkish forces enter through the village of Sherk, west of the city of al-Darbasiyah, to meet Russian forces coming either from their military base at Qamishli airport or from their base east of Tal Tamr (formerly the livestock complex), as previously observed by a journalist Since Enab Baladi in Hassaké during the peak period of activity of these patrols.
The patrol takes a route through the southern rural villages, the most important of which are al-Darbasiyah and Amuda, and sometimes reaches the northwestern countryside of Abu Rasin where the contact lines between the SDF and the Syrian National Army (SNA) are located, before turning back.
These patrols are made up of several armoured vehicles, divided equally between the Russian and Turkish armies, and are accompanied by two Russian military helicopters.
The second patrol area is located east of Qamishli city, in the countryside of al-Hasakah, where Turkish forces enter the area through the Deir Ghosn crossing, north of al-Jawadiyah, and meet Russian forces coming from Qamishli.
This patrol usually travels through villages and towns along the border, from Qamishli to al-Qahtaniyah and al-Jawadiyah, until reaching the northern countryside of Maabad and Rmelan. Sometimes, Turkish forces are absent from the joint patrol, and it is supplemented only by Russian forces accompanied by SDF forces.
The patrol can reach the triangular border at the village of Andur (the northernmost point of northeastern Syria), northeast of the city of al-Malikiyah, east of al-Hasakah.
The parties have stopped announcing the launch of the patrols, and their movements are monitored via local news pages in the areas where the military vehicles have been operating since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
What is the purpose of these patrols?
At the height of these patrols in Syria, within the framework of the Sochi agreement between Turkey and Russia, no significant impact was left on the region. The geographic control of the SDF, supported by Washington, has not changed and Turkey has not stopped targeting SDF military sites in the region.
This period coincided with accusations between Ankara and Moscow of not respecting the conditions of the Sochi agreement regarding the geography extending from Idlib to al-Hasakah. statement Former Russian presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev said: “Turkey has not fulfilled its commitments regarding the de-escalation zone in Idlib and must respect its obligations in this regard.”
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said that Russia has not fulfilled its commitments regarding the de-escalation agreement in Syria.
Raman Studies Center Director Badr Mulla Rashid said: Enab Baladi that the launch of joint patrols was a Russian-American effort to restrict the borders of the Turkish military operation that Ankara has called “Peace Spring,” aimed at pushing the SDF away from Turkish borders.
He added that the agreement has succeeded over the past five years in establishing a new reality on the ground, especially since the aim of the agreement was to put an end to the intensity of military operations and to reassure the Turkish side about the spread of the SDF along its southern borders.
Regarding the suspension of these patrols for more than a year, Mulla Rashid said that this denotes a lack of willingness to coordinate due to existing differences or a desire by Turkey to exert pressure on the Russian side. Therefore, the return of joint patrols should contribute to strengthening security stability and reducing the likelihood of a military confrontation between the SDF and Turkey.
The researcher stressed that the return of patrols could contribute to further strengthening the understanding on the ground between Turkey and Russia as part of attempts to reach a Turkish agreement with the Syrian regime.
Impact on the ground
The SDF has not yet announced an official position on the return of these patrols. It is unclear whether the presence of Turkish military vehicles, even in a small part of the areas they control, would have a negative or positive impact on them.
Anas Shawakh, a researcher at the Jusoor Center for Studies, believes that the resumption of patrols in Syria reflects the desire of the parties to raise the level of coordination between them in the region.
He added to Enab Baladi that the aim of the patrols since their launch was to allow Turkey and Russia to monitor the activities of the SDF or the PKK in northeastern Syria.
For Turkey, these patrols could help improve the intelligence it uses in operations targeting PKK leaders and members in northern Syria.
The researcher believes that the approval or rejection by the SDF of the presence of these patrols would not change anything, especially since this situation has been resolved since the Sochi agreement, which authorized military patrols in exchange for the cessation of Turkish military operations. Therefore, the presence of these patrols protects the region from new military operations.
Researcher Badr Mulla Rashid said that under the terms of the Sochi agreement, it is the lack of joint patrols that poses a threat to the SDF, not their continued existence.
He added that continued patrols could pave the way for negotiations between Ankara and Damascus to include economic agreements in areas east of the Euphrates, controlled by the SDF. In the best-case scenario for the SDF, this could lead to a tripartite agreement between the regime, Russia and Turkey, with Turkey agreeing to some form of “expanded local administration” in exchange for expanding patrol zones and ensuring the SDF's withdrawal from other areas bordering Turkey.
Mulla Rashid stressed in his interview with Enab Baladi that the regime could now play an indirect mediating role between the SDF and Turkey to achieve a form that would allow it greater control over the border areas.
The Sochi Agreement
Turkish and Russian Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin sign an additional protocol on October 22, 2019, in Sochi, concerning the areas of northeastern Syria, after the agreement was known as the “de-escalation agreement“and was linked to opposition-controlled areas in Idlib and Aleppo.
The additional protocol to the agreement provided for the complete withdrawal of the SDF from the 30-kilometer Syrian border strip within 150 hours, in addition to the withdrawal of their weapons from Manbij and Tal Rifaat.
It also provided for joint Turkish-Russian patrols to a depth of ten kilometers along the border, with the exception of Qamishli, while maintaining the status quo between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain.
Russian military police began patrolling the Syrian-Turkish border for the first time two days after the agreement was signed on October 25.
The deal comes after a military operation launched by Turkey under the name “Peace Spring” in October 2019 against the SDF and its military backbone, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, with Turkish forces and their local ally, the Syrian National Army, advancing in the Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad regions.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has not clearly expressed its official position on the agreement since then, nor announced its withdrawal from the border areas, knowing that the agreement stipulated its withdrawal as a condition for its completion.
