MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ankara is expected to complete the construction of a 911-kilometer-long (566-mile-long) concrete wall on the Turkish-Syrian border in the first half of 2017, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said.
"One of the other measures we took is to ensure emergency physical border security – in other words, build walls along the border as long as the geographical situation allows. We have built 268 kilometers of the wall as of now… Within the first half of 2017, we wish to finalize all of the 911 kilometers of the Syrian border with physical border security," Isik said Wednesday, as quoted by the Hurriyet Daily News newspaper.
Turkey has been strengthening its border with the war-torn Syria for months. In order to ensure safety in the region, Ankara had allocated some 250 million Turkish liras ($80 million) to six border provinces.
