Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar chairs a meeting of commanders, Ankara, Turkey, March 8, 2020 (IHA)

Turkey says a ceasefire, agreed with Russia on Thursday, is holding up in partitioned Idlib Province in northwest Syria.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday, “We will continue to be a deterrent force to prevent any violation to the ceasefire. None occurred since the ceasefire entered into force.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed the ceasefire on Thursday, as Ankara lifted its criticism of the 10-month Russian-regime offensive that killed almost 2,000 civilians, wounded thousands, and displaced more than a million. Erdoğan withdrew his demand, originally with a February 29 deadline, for regime forces to withdraw from Idlib.

Akar said a Russian delegation will soon be in Ankara to arrange details of joint Turkish-Russian patrols in a 12-km (7.5-mile) corridor along the cross-Idlib M4 highway. He warned, “We will give the harshest response to any attacks on our troops and observation points (in Idlib) without hesitation.”

Just before the Erdoğan-Putin meeting in Moscow, Russia enabled pro-Assad forces to reclaim the key town of Saraqib, at the junction of the M4 and the Damascus-to-Aleppo highways. The reoccupation checked Ankara’s attacks on hundreds of pro-Assad targets since February 28, following a Russian or regime strike that killed 36 Turkish troops the previous day.

On Thursday Russian-regime bombing also killed 16 people, including an entire family, in a displaced persons’ shelter in Ma’arat Masrin, hours before the ceasefire wsa announced.

The Russian Defense Ministry said there were three shootings in Idlib on Saturday.