Turkey builds wall along ISIL-controlled border region

ANKARA – The Associated Press

DHA photo

A wall construction has begun along an 82-kilometer stretch of Turkey’s border with Syria that is under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants on the Syrian side.

The four meter-high slabs were being positioned along the border in the southeastern provinces of Kilis and Gaziantep. Video footage showed construction vehicles lining concrete blocks along the border.

Turkey has stepped up security along its border to prevent ISIL militants from entering Syria and crossing back into Turkey.

In August, Turkey also began constructing a wall along the border at the town Reyhanlı, a main smuggling point southwest of Kilis.

Meanwhile, Turkish Armed Forces recently said in a statement that it has built a 23-kilometer-long modular concrete wall, a 108 kilometer-long trellis fence, 386 kilometers of trenches, an 80 kilometer-long embankment, added 423 kilometers of illumination and reformed a 1450-kilometer-long border patrol route since 2012.

Turkey, home for more than 2 million Syrian refugees, is also an important route for the flow of foreign militants to join ISIL, as it shares a 900-km border with Syria.