ISTANBUL: Turkey has begun construction of a wall along the country’s frontier with Iran, mimicking the Turkish barrier along the Syrian border.

The private Dogan news agency said the governor of Agri province, Suleyman Elban, inspected the construction of the security wall on Tuesday. The Turkish authorities are constructing the 2-metre wide, 3-metre high barrier with portable blocks, the report said.

Turkey is building the wall along parts of the Iranian border to boost its security by halting the infiltrations of Kurdish militants and illegal smugglers.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in January plans to build a wall along its borders with Iraq and Iran, similar to the one currently being erected along the 911-kilometre frontier with Syria.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2017