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 (; ) is long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the tripoint with Iraq in the east. It runs across Upper Mesopotamia for some , crossing the Euphrates and ...

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. More broadly, soc ...

from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

into

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

.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'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...

and the Mexico-United States 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 Toki may refer to: People * The Toki clan, a Japanese samurai clan * Luke Toki (born 1986), Australian television personality *, Japanese decathlete *, Japanese sumo wrestler * Palnatoki, a legendary Danish hero and chieftain * Toki (also spelled ...

, 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 trespassing by humans or to secure facilities such as prisons where there is a risk of escape. The term "razor wire", through long usage, has gener ...

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 A separation barrier or separation wall is a Barricade, barrier, wall or fence, constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to ethnic segregation, separate peoples or cultures. A separation barrier that runs a ...

, 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 (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

Kilis Kilis is a city in southernmost Turkey, near the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria, and the administrative centre of Kilis Province and Kilis District. Its population is 112,187 (2022). On 6 February 2023 Kilis was badly affected by the tw ...

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

Şırnak Şırnak () is a city in Şırnak District and the capital of Şırnak Province in Turkey. The Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Iraq is one of the main links of Turkey to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is mainly populated by Kurds o ...

Şanlıurfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain about east of the Eup ...

, 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 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 union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

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 The government of Syria takes place in a presidential system and is currently in a transitionary period under and led by a transitional government. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria. On 8 December 2024, after the succ ...

accused Turkey of building a

, 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 2.4 hectares 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
* Border barriers Human migration Syria–Turkey border Separation barriers {{DEFAULTSORT:Syria-Turkey barrier