Turkey says no wall work at Syria border

ANKARA

Atalay dismissed reports saying Turkey was building a wall at the border. AA photo

Contradicting earlier remarks by officials, Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay has denied that a wall was being built along part of Turkey’s border with Syria while underlining that further measures were being taken for border control and inspection.

After dismissing claims of the construction of a wall near the border with Syria as false, Atalay told reporters yesterday that more advanced measures were nonetheless being taken for border control and inspection, without elaborating further, Anadolu Agency reported.

Atalay’s remarks came after he chaired a two-hour-long closed-door meeting concerning the Syrian refugees in Turkey. The meeting was also attended by Fuat Oktay, the president of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), a body affiliated with the Office of Turkey’s Prime Ministry, and Veysel Dalmaz, the coordinating governor in charge of Syrian refugees who is also working under the Prime Ministry, focused on preparations for winter at refugee camps.

Earlier this week, news reports cited Turkish officials as saying that a two-meter-high wall was being built along part of Turkey’s border with Syria near an area of frequent fighting to try to stop people from illegally bypassing its checkpoints. Construction workers with excavators began digging foundations in Nusaybin, according to Reuters.