Hundreds of Syrians held protests against the Syrian regime and its backer Russia Friday in opposition-held Idlib province where a fragile ceasefire has paused a deadly months-old offensive.
Some demonstrators gathered near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, where Turkish border guards last week fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse Syrian protesters, Agence France Presse reported.
They waved the three-star flag of the eight-year-old uprising and chanted against Bashar al-Assad's regime, while some called on Turkey to open its borders.
"We only want the Turkish government to open its borders for our brothers who live under the olive trees," protester Abu Haytham told AFP, referring to displaced Syrians living in the open air.
The demonstrations came after Damascus's ally Russia announced a ceasefire for the northwestern Idlib region last Friday.
Air strikes have stopped since the agreement went into effect last Saturday morning, but sporadic artillery fire has continued.
Regime forces have been pressing an offensive against Idlib since the end of April.
More than 960 civilians have been killed in four months of heavy bombardment, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The United Nations says more than 400,000 people have been displaced.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that joint military land patrols by Turkish and US forces in northeast Syria are planned to start on Sept. 8.
The two countries are working to establish what Turkey says will be a "safe zone" along the border in northeast Syria - a region mainly controlled by Kurdish YPG forces - and have conducted multiple joint helicopter patrols over the area.
