Turkey builds rocket-proof walls on Syrian border

The Turkish government has intensified its security measures with the construction of bazooka-proof walls on the Turkish-Syrian border in Yayladağı district of southern province Hatay, as the conflict in Syria involving the PKK-affiliated PYD, ISIS and Syrian security forces escalate.

The walls which are 1 meter thick and 2.5 meters in height are resistant to rocket fire. Behind the walls, a seven-meter long and four-meter deep trench has been dug out. The wall, measuring a length of 2,5 kilometers so far, has also been reinforced with barbed wire.



The military started to work in May on the building of the wall and the digging of extra trenches to prevent smuggling and immigrants from crossing the border illegally in Güveççi, Görentaş, Uluyol and Aşağıpulluyaz neighborhoods of the Yayladağı district which is under the responsibility of the 3rd Border Battalion Command.

As the construction of the wall continues, the Turkish military has also said that it will install security cameras which offer 24/7 video recording and night vision. In addition to these cameras which will be placed at strategic points in towers along the border, armored vehicles and soldiers will patrol the border.

Turkey had announced previously in July that new tighter security measures were on the way. It was decided that civilian passage at border crossings would be limited and would be under stricter rules. The Girmeli and Kamışlı border crossings would only allow specially authorized aid to cross to the other side of the border.

Also, additional troops would be deployed at the rarely used Cizre-Andivar border crossing. Reconnaissance flights would be increased near the border, and more fighter jets would be transferred to the Diyarbakır Air Base.