Turkey, Russia Hold Joint Patrol in Northeast Syria

Turkish officers talk with Russian officers near Turkish-Syrian border. (AP)
Turkish officers talk with Russian officers near Turkish-Syrian border. (AP)
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Turkey, Russia Hold Joint Patrol in Northeast Syria

Turkish officers talk with Russian officers near Turkish-Syrian border. (AP)
Turkish officers talk with Russian officers near Turkish-Syrian border. (AP)

Russian Military Police held on Monday a joint patrol with Turkish forces in Syria's Ain al-Arab (Kobani).

The patrol was the 95th between the two forces in the region since both countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 2019.

It comprised eight Russian and Turkish military vehicles, accompanied by two Russian helicopters, and set off from Gharib village, east of Kobani.

The patrol toured the villages of Qarah Mogh, Jaishan, Kharabisan Tahtani and Baghdik to Khan village in the western countryside of Tel Abyad then returned to their set off position.

Separately, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced the killing of two members of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Euphrates Shield zone, under the control of Turkey and its loyal factions.

Turkey has recently targeted the Kurdish-led SDF sites in north and northeastern Syria by intensifying its artillery bombardment in Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, and in other sites in Hasakeh, extending to the countryside of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) activists documented the death of two SDF members and the injury of three others by a landmine explosion targeting their car while passing through Hisha town, north of Raqqah, on Sunday evening.

SOHR has reported 56 operations carried out by ISIS, including armed attacks and explosions, in areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration since early 2022.

According to the war monitor, the regime security services have arrested three new members of the “National Defense Forces” from al-Sokhnah town in the eastern countryside of Homs for “communicating with ISIS cells.”



Danish PM Tells Trump It Is up to Greenland to Decide on Independence

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen attends the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen attends the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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Danish PM Tells Trump It Is up to Greenland to Decide on Independence

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen attends the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen attends the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Wednesday she had spoken on the phone with US President-elect Donald Trump and told him that it is up to Greenland itself to decide on any independence.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said last week that US control of Greenland was an "absolute necessity" and did not rule out using military or economic action such as tariffs against Denmark to make it happen.

"In the conversation, the prime minister referred to the statements of the Chairman of the Greenlandic Parliament, Mute B. Egede, that Greenland is not for sale," Frederiksen's office said in a statement.

"The prime minister emphasized that it is up to Greenland itself to make a decision on independence," the statement said.

Frederiksen also stressed the importance of strengthening security in the Arctic and that Denmark was open to taking a greater responsibility, it added.