Turkey plans to build a wall on its Iranian border as a part of its counter-terrorism measures to stop the cross-border mobility of PKK terrorists. Several camps belonging to the PKK host approximately a thousand terrorists around the Iranian border. In case of military operations against PKK bases in eastern Turkey, terrorists can easily transit the border and shelter in those camps or illegally cross the border and enter the country. To prevent such crossings, a wall will be built along the Iranian border, similar to the one on Turkey's Syrian border. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry of Iran stated that they are ready to help Turkey in the wall-building project.
According to the IRNA, the official news agency of Iran, foreign ministry sources reported that they responded positively to the project and are ready to take part in it to bring an early completion.
"We are not principally against Turkey's project to build a wall on the Iranian border. Yet, every action that takes place on the border should be reported to Tehran," the sources stated, while also highlighting that a wall would also prevent illegal smuggling.
"Even in the clothing sector alone, more than $2 billion worth of product illegally comes to Turkey from Iran every year. If we build a wall, we can prevent this from happening." The wall encompassing Turkey's volatile border with its southern neighbor Syria is one of the longest walls in the world. A 77-kilometer section of the 105-kilometer-long wall between Azaz and Jarablus, two previously Daesh-controlled Syrian towns cleared by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), has already been completed.
