Turkey’s new military outposts are crucial: Only woman contractor

Erdinç Çelikkan ANKARA

The new military posts have been built with high security measures.

New military posts built in Turkey’s eastern and southeastern provinces are key measures against terrorism, the only female contractor in the region has said, amid controversy over the construction of new posts despite the ongoing peace process.

Engineer Deniz Tural, who was the contractor for four of the 200 fortified gendarmerie stations (kalekol) in the southeast, said the posts that were once built to secure Turkish soldiers are now even more important in light of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) across the border.

Tural also referred to the recent violent protests across Turkey against ISIL and the government’s perceived inaction over it. “The incidents caused by some groups also create danger for those on the posts, despite the fact that they are fortified. A curfew was ordered for the first time since Sept. 12 [the coup of 1980]. This is where the importance and confidence of peace process emerge,” she said.

Tural stressed that the new posts were a marked improvement on the old ones, describing the old posts as “no different than a slum” and emphasizing that they were unprotected against attacks.

The new military posts have been built with high security measures, including security cameras, underground tunnels, steel doors, bullet-proof glass, 80-centimeter-thick walls, special towers for guard duty and strong roof against possible shelling.