The border crossing between Türkiye’s southeastern province of Mardin’s Nusaybin and the Syrian northeastern city of Qamishli, formerly under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is expected to reopen within three months, a senior Syrian official has said.
Ahmed al-Hilali, deputy governor of Hasakah and spokesperson for a presidential committee overseeing the implementation of the Jan. 29 integration agreement, inspected the site of the border crossing alongside a Syrian government delegation.
Al-Hilali said preparations could take up to three months to complete, adding that the reopening of the crossing would help revive trade between Türkiye and Iraq through Syrian territory.
He noted that demining operations, site clearance and engineering surveys are currently underway.
Al-Hilali also said the Syrian government plans to establish a state university in Hasakah and rename Rojava University as part of the integariton agreement.
He further announced that Arabic will remain the official language of instruction in public education, while Kurdish will, for the first time in Syria’s history, be introduced as a subject in the national curriculum.
Transit trade through the Cilvegözü border gate in southeastern Hatay province and the Akçakale crossing in Şanlıurfa province currently allows goods to move toward Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, with nearly 300 trucks crossing daily, Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said on July 22.
“We are working together to open the Nusaybin-Qamishli border crossing as soon as possible,” Bolat said.
