Turkey to build wall along Iranian border

Turkey is planning to build a wall along its border with Iran in a bid to prevent Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara has listed as a terror group, from entering its territory, Sputnik reported on Monday citing the Hurriyat newspaper.

Earlier in May, reports said that Turkey was reinforcing the border with Syria in the southeastern part of the country with country's forces reportedly launching construction of a concrete wall.

"The PKK has the Maku, Dambat, Navur, Kotr, Keneresh and Sehidan camps inside Iran near the Turkish border. There are some 800-1,000 PKK terrorists in those camps. They enter Turkey, carry out attacks and leave. As a precaution against this, we are going to build a wall along 70 kilometers of the border near Agri and [the eastern province of] Igdir," an official said, as quoted by the Hurriyat newspaper.

The rest of the border, which will be equipped with lights, will be closed with towers and iron fences, the official added.

The PKK was formed in the late 1970s and launched an armed struggle against the Turkish government in 1984, calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey.

After the ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK broke down in 2015 after two years, Ankara started a military operation against Kurdish militants.