TURKEY tr-diplomacy
Turkey's border with Syria falls to trade invasion
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News | 12/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | FULYA ÖZERKAN
Five border cities in Southeast Turkey are working to boost economic and cultural relations with counterparts in Syria as part of a 25-million-Turkish-Lira program operating in parallel with national-level diplomatic efforts to deepen bilateral ties. Calling the border between the two countries ‘an artificial one,’ Mardin Gov Hasan Duruer expresses support for establishing a free-trade zone that could eventually encompass Lebanon and Jordan as well
Turkey’s less-developed border cities are riding the wave of Ankara’s increasing engagement with the Middle East, boosting trade and economic cooperation, as well as cultural and sporting interaction, with southern neighbor Syria.
“The border between Turkey and Syria is an artificial one. No boundaries exist in [our] minds or thoughts,” Mardin Gov. Hasan Duruer told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in a telephone interview.
The southeastern Anatolia cities of Mardin and Şanlıurfa have joined nearby Kilis, Gaziantep and Hatay in a 25 million-Turkish Lira program to promote trade, employment and sports and cultural exchanges between the five Turkish cities and three Syrian counterparts, Aleppo, Rakka and Haseki. Of the total budget, 15 million liras will be allocated by Turkey; the rest will be provided by Syria.
“One of the planned projects concerns maintaining border security,” Duruer said. “The area next to the Nusaybin border gate is full of landmines. We have the thought of clearing the mines and establishing a free-trade zone with Syria. Maybe in the future we can include Lebanon and Jordan. Why not?”
The cross-border initiative follows Turkey’s move to establish a high-level strategic council with Syria in order to deepen the bilateral relationship in a wide range of areas and abolish visa requirements for travel between the two countries. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly called for the establishment of a kind of European-style Schengen zone for Middle Eastern countries, including Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Government leaders from the three nations are expected to meet next month in Istanbul to implement the plans.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also proposed a visa-free travel region for Syria, Iran, Turkey and other neighboring countries. “We completely support this project,” Mardin Gov. Duruer said.
“The natural market commercially for the five cities is the Middle East. In the past, they failed to utilize trade due to the political problems between Turkey and some neighboring countries and could not develop in economic terms,” Bedri Yay, an expert with the Mardin Investment Support Office, told the Daily News. “The more the psychological barriers are removed, the more economic development will take place.”
In addition to boosting the economy and trade, the projects being undertaken also seek to promote sports and culture. Officials said such projects could include providing Arabic courses in Turkey and Turkish-language courses in Syria, or organizing football events between the two countries’ city teams.
“We have Kurds, Arabs and Syriacs, and Syria has the same. There is no difference,” Duruer said.
Prior to 2007, provincial governors’ offices undertook several projects to promote trade between Syria and the Turkish border cities of Kilis, Gaziantep and Hatay through the coordination of the State Planning Organization. Since 2007, several development agencies have been established, for a total of 26 today. The Dicle Development Agency, which is responsible for Mardin, Batman, Siirt and Şırnak, is overseeing the new program and training local officials and nongovernmental organizations to initiate projects that will contribute to the Turkish-Syrian relationship. Complete project proposals must be submitted by Feb. 3.
Turkey and Syria came to the brink of war in the 1990s due to Syria’s allegedly harboring members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, but the relationship has improved since the early 2000s, becoming a strategic model for the region. The two countries have held joint Cabinet meetings, and last week held the second prime-ministerial-level meeting of an intergovernmental strategic council in Ankara, bringing together 26 ministers to evaluate the progress made in 51 cooperation deals signed last year.