Turkey to build wall on Syrian border amid upsurge in violence

HATAY – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Turkish army has started building a rocket-proof wall, 2.5 meters high and 1 meter wide, on the Syrian border in the southern province of Hatay, with ditches being dug along the borderline, amid spiraling tension near and on the border.

In a bid to stop illegal border crossings and smuggling between Turkey and Syria, the Turkish Armed Forces are building the wall in Hatay’s Yayladağı district, a southern border district that runs along part of Syria’s borderline with Turkey. 

The wall is being built along the border that runs through the Yayladağ neighborhoods of Güveççi, Görentaş, Uluyol and Aşağıpulluyazı.

The ditches, to be dug behind the wall, are expected to have a length of 2.5 kilometers and a depth of 4 meters.

Close circuit cameras with night view capabilities are also expected to be placed at watch towers along the Syrian border.

The move came less than two weeks after Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç revealed details of a new border security plan.

“What is important in the face of Daesh [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] is to block the terrorists’ transit points with physical obstacles. A physical security system will be established at the border,” Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said during a cabinet meeting break late July 22.