Turkey to build wall along Syria border

Turkey to build wall along Syria border
Fri May 24, 2013 13:37:48

Turkey will build a 2.5 km-long wall along its border with Syria to prevent illegal crossings, Turkish Trade and Customs Minister Hayati Yazici said Thursday.

The wall is to be built along Hatay province's Cilvegozu gate with Syria, he said, adding that a protocol with the Turkish Armed Forces had already been signed for the construction of the wall.


"According to the protocol, we have defined a project that aims to increase the security of the military zone by building a part barbed wire, part concrete wall with security camera system," the minister said.


The Cilvegozu gate lies less than 10 km from Reyhanli town center, where a twin-bomb attack killed 51 and wounded more than 100 on May 11.


Yazici said Ankara had closed the Yayladagi border gate with Syria after the Reyhanli bombings to prevent suspects from fleeing. The Yayladagi gate is situated some 90 kilometers from Reyhanli.

 

Ankara has accused Damascus of being behind the bombings, but the Syrian government holds Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responsible for the attacks.

 

Syria says Turkey has facilitated the flow of arms, explosives, vehicles, militants and money into the country over the past months of turmoil.
 

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