According to a local governor, Türkiye intends to construct an 8.5-kilometre (5.2-mile) wall along its western border, where neighbours Greece and Bulgaria have already installed their fences.
The goal of the barrier is to stop migrants from entering the EU member states.
In the past, Türkiye has constructed walls along its borders with Syria and Iran.
“This year, we will implement physical security measures on our western border for the first time,” Yunus Sezer, the governor of Edirne in northwest Türkiye, informed reporters.
The governor said that a wall of 8.5 kilometres was originally intended but might be enlarged.
“We will start from the border with Greece, and from there, God willing, it will continue in the upcoming period depending on the situation,” he stated.
Greece and Türkiye have a 200-kilometre (120-mile) border, which is divided by the Evros River, known in Turkish as the Meric.
Greece constructed two barbed wire fences, each three metres high, along 11 kilometres (seven miles) of its northern border with Türkiye in 2012.
The fence’s length was later increased, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised to increase it to over 100 km by 2026.
As migrants poured into Bulgaria in 2014 to avoid the dangerous Mediterranean Sea passage, the country erected a 30-kilometre razor wire fence along its border with Türkiye.
After four years, the fence was expanded to nearly encompass the entire 259-kilometre border.
The western shores of Türkiye serve as a starting point for migrants who want to get to the Greek islands.
When the migrants’ boat began to sink off the western coast of Türkiye in February, six of them died, and another 27 were saved by the coast guard.
