Turkish military vehicles enter Syria's Idlib as cease-fire enters 2nd day

Dozens of Turkish military vehicles entered Syria's northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday, as the cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey is entering its second day, a war monitor reported.

The Turkish vehicles entered northern Idlib and headed toward Turkish observation points in the province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

With the latest military reinforcements on March 7, around 3,480 Turkish military vehicles have entered Syria since Feb. 2, with 8,350 Turkish soldiers being deployed in Idlib, according to the Britain-based watchdog.

"Cautious calm" prevailed the de-escalation zone in Idlib on Saturday, the Observatory noted.

Russia and Turkey agreed on a cease-fire in the de-escalation zone in Syria's Idlib on Thursday, after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan which lasted about six hours.

The cease-fire went into effect at 12:01 a.m. local time on Friday (2201 GMT Thursday), according to the protocol read after the talks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The agreement comes after several times of direct confrontation between Turkey and Syrian in Idlib over the past two months when the Syrian forces have been campaigning against the Turkey-backed rebel groups in the province.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)