The latest Russian-Turkish deal on Syria’s rebel stronghold of Idlib brings to mind a popular Turkish saying: “One should not say amen to a forlorn prayer.” Developments on the ground have reinforced misgivings over the fragility of the arrangement, which Ankara insistently calls a cease-fire but, in fact, contains commitments that require military action.

The deal, sealed in Moscow March 5, called for the cessation of hostilities, provided that the fight to eradicate terrorist groups continued, as well as for the reopening of the M4 highway and the creation of a security corridor with a depth of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) on either side of the critical road. March 15 was set as the start date of joint Russian-Turkish patrols along a stretch between the settlement of Trumba, 2 kilometers to the west of Saraqeb, and the settlement of Ain al-Havr, after the Russian and Turkish defense ministries agreed on specific modalities.

But before the patrols began, protesters burning tires or staging sit-ins greeted Turkish armored vehicles, accompanied by an earth digger, on the road. According to the media arm of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main radical group in Idlib, “the free activists and peoples of the north” were protesting the planned patrols on the M4 “by the Russian invaders.” Armed militants from Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaeda-inspired group, were reportedly among the groups blocking the road.

Russian military police and Turkish army troops launched the first joint patrols March 15, but the mission was far from smooth. While Turkey’s Defense Ministry said the mission had been executed, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the joint patrols were cut short because of “provocations” by radical groups outside Turkey’s control. “The terrorists attempted to use civilians, including women and children, as a human shield,” the statement said.