Turkey considers building wall along border with Armenia
By Rashid Shirinov
Turkey considers constructing a wall along the state border with Armenia.
The proposal is being discussed by the Ministries of National Defense and Finance, Trend reported with reference to the Turkish Star newspaper on January 11.
The 3-meter concrete walls will be erected in the Turkish provinces of Ardahan, Kars and Igdir, which border on Armenia.
The concrete walls are expected to contribute to fighting against terrorism, smuggling and prevention of illegal border crossing.
The tension in the relations of Turkey and Armenia is due to Armenia's so-called “genocide” claims against Turkey and occupation of Azerbaijani territories. That was the very reason due to which the Turkish-Armenian border is closed since early 1990s.
Turkey has repeatedly stressed that the Ankara-Yerevan normalization of ties is impossible without the liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
In late 2015, Turkey launched construction of a wall along its border with Syria to keep out ISIS fighters. The construction is expected to be completed in April 2017.
The concrete wall stretching the length of the border between the two countries, include barbed wire, a dedicated patrol road and a reinforced fence. Some 28 kilometers of the wall is left to build.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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