Turkey is quietly building a giant 900-km wall on its Syrian border.
So while Trump hasn't even started on his biggest campaign pledge, building a wall along the US - Mexico border, Turkey, without almost anybody outside Turkey noticing it, is well on its way to completing a 900-km wall along its border with Syria. Turkey plans to complete the construction of a huge, permanent wall sealing off its entire 900-km long border with Syria by January 2018. Once completed it would be the second-longest structure in the world, after the 3,460-kilometre Great Wall of China. This project envisions the implementation of various electronic surveillance systems along with border checkpoints and observation towers to better monitor movement along the border The wall consists of huge portable 3m tall cement blocks topped off with barbed wire. Turkey has cited security concerns due to terrorist threats emanating from Syrian territory as the reason behind the construction of the wall. No cost estimates for the construction of the wall have been provided. Local media have put forward various figures ranging from 2bn to 4bn lira ($640m to $1.2bn).
Construction on the border wall started in 2014. It was meant to combat smuggling and illegal migration, even as Turkey maintained an open-border policy that has seen nearly 3 million Syrians seek refuge in the country.
The U.S. and its NATO allies had long pressured Turkey to seal off the border against areas in Syria controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. In August 2016, Turkish troops and tanks moved into Syria in Operation Euphrates Shield to clear border areas in concert with the construction of the wall. Ankara has said its borders will remain open to civilians fleeing the conflict in Syria. The wall means that this movement will be conducted in a controlled manner. In the past Turkey had come under pressure from both allies and critics for not controlling its border with Syria and making it easy for militants to cross back and forth.
How the completed border wall looks like.
In addition the the Turkish president said Ankara plans to build walls along its borders with southern neighbours Iraq and Iran in addition to the wall currently being built along the Syrian border. The Syrian government will not make any kind of monetary contribution to the building of the wall on its border with Turkey.
