Turkey hands over seized Syrian regime troops to Russia

Turkey has released regime forces seized in Syria's Rasulayn city to Russia, the Ministry of National Defense said early Friday.

In a post on Twitter, the ministry said that "18 regime elements seized during the search/detection/reconnaissance/security activities in the southeast of Rasulayn on Oct. 29 were handed over as a result of the coordination with the authorities of the Russian Federation."

On Thursday, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkish officials were in touch with their Russian counterparts regarding their release of 18 regime soldiers.