The Syria–Turkey barrier is a border wall and fence under construction along the

Syria–Turkey border The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey ( ar, الحدود السورية التركية, translit=alhudud alsuwriat alturkia; tr, Suriye–Türkiye sınırı) is about long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea ...

built in an attempt at preventing illegal crossings and

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

into

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

.Reuters: "Turkish developer confident Syria wall in place by spring" By Nevzat Devranoglu and Orhan Coskun
December 9, 2016
23 Jul 2015 The barrier on the Syrian border is the third longest wall in the world after the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...

and the American-Mexico border wall.

Background

According to Turkish officials the border wall was built in an attempt to increase border security, combat smuggling and reduce illegal border crossings due to the Syrian civil war.

History

Ankara had launched the construction project in 2015 to increase border security. The 828 km (515-mile)Daily Sabah: "Turkey-Syria border wall construction nears completion"
11 Jun 2017 wall is being built by TOKI, Turkey's state-owned construction enterprise, and will comprise Turkey's entire border with Syria. It will be made of seven-tonne concrete blocks topped with

razor wire Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The term "razor wire", through long usage, has generally been used to describe barbed tape products. Razor wire is much sharper th ...

and stand high and wide;Business Insider: "Turkey is getting close to finishing its border wall with Syria" by Orhan Coskun and Daren Butler
September 28, 2016 it will include 120 border towers in critical locations and a security road with regular military patrols. With construction having begun in 2014,Afanasieva, Dasha (5 May 2014).
Turkey builds wall in token effort to secure border with Syria
. ''Reuters''. 781 km of the border wall has been completed as of December 2017.Hurriyet Daily News: "Turkey-Syria border wall to be completed by spring"
18 Dec 2017 In June 2018, the wall was proclaimed to be finished with a length of 764-kilometer (475-mile) out of the 911 km Syrian-Turkish border. In 2017, The Syrian government accused Turkey of building a separation wall, referring to this barrier.

Specifics

The physical specifics are such as : * base element: 2m wide, 7-tons mobile concrete blocks * height : 3m concrete + 1m

* length : 764 km * sealed along :

Hatay Hatay Province ( tr, Hatay ili, ) is the southernmost province of Turkey. It is situated almost entirely outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of ...

Kilis Kilis is a city in south-central Turkey, near the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria, and the administrative centre of Kilis Province. History Although there aren't any definite information related to its foundation, today's Kilis mainl ...

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on ...

Şırnak Şırnak ( ku, شرنەخ, Şirnex) is a town in southeastern Turkey. It is the capital of Şırnak Province, a new province that split from the Mardin and Siirt provinces. The Habur border gate with Iraq which is one of Turkey's main links to Arab ...

Şanlıurfa Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ext ...

, as of June 2018, The border security includes : * the modular concrete walls * security patrol routes with regular military patrols * security towers, manned and unmanned * passenger tracks. Electronic devices are used, such as : * close-up surveillance systems * thermal cameras * land surveillance radar * remote-controlled weapons systems * command-and-control centers * line-length imaging systems * seismic sensors * acoustic sensors. The advanced technology layer includes : * wide area surveillance * laser destructive fiber-optic detection * surveillance radar for drone detection * jammers * short-distance movement-sensitive lighting systems. The barrier was expected to include 120 border towers in critical locations. The construction of Turkey's armored

Cobra II ''Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq'' is a 2006 book written by Michael Gordon (journalist), Michael R. Gordon, chief military correspondent for ''The New York Times'', and Bernard E. Trainor, a retired United State ...

military vehicles, which are now being used to patrol the border to Syria, has been funded by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Geography and size

781 km of the border wall has been completed as of December 2017, the whole 911 km is expected to be completed by Spring 2018.

Separation barrier and incursion into Syria controversy

In 2017, the

Syrian government Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syr ...

accused Turkey of building a separation wall, referring to the barrier. Syrian Foreign Ministry officials claimed Turkish forces and border control guards brought in heavy machines and trucks into Syrian territories, particularly in the northern countryside of Hasakah province, making a dirt road and digging a trench while installing cement pillars to build a separation wall. Turkish forces were also claimed to enter the Syrian territory at a depth of 250 meters in the northern countryside of Aleppo province. The Turkish forces also repeated the move in the northwestern province of Idlib, saying that the Turkish forces captured six acres of lands with the same aim to build the wall. Syrian regime officials have stated that any unilateral international actions without the consent of the Syrian government will be dealt with as violations to Syria's sovereignty.

References

External links

Images of the barrier published by the Turkish Ministry of Defense on Twitter
* {{coord missing, Turkey Border barriers Human migration Syria–Turkey border Separation barriers