ISTANBUL(RAHNUMA): One of the border crossings between Turkiye and Syria is to reopen on Tuesday, ending a 12-year closure, local officials said Monday.
The reopening of the Akcakale crossing, which sits roughly in the middle of Turkiye’s 900-kilometer (550-mile) border with Syria, is the latest step in Damascus’s move toward normalization with its neighbors.
The crossing, which lies just over the border from Tal Abyad in northern Syria, was closed by Turkiye in 2014 after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took over the town following the defeat of Daesh group militants.
Turkiye has long viewed the SDF as linked to the Kurdish militant PKK and a major threat along its southern border.
It was partially reopened in 2019 for trade, funerals and the crossing of government officials after a Turkish military operation against Daesh extremists and Kurdish fighters.
The decision will now mean the crossing is open to civilians.
“In light of the normalization of life in the region… entry and exit procedures using passports to and from the Syrian Arab Republic via the Akcakale Land Border Crossing will start on Tuesday,” the Sanliurfa governor’s office said in a statement.
The move will mean six of the 12 crossings between Turkiye and Syria will be open.
Turkiye has forged close ties with Syria’s new rulers, with President Ahmed Al-Sharaa joining a diplomacy forum in Turkiye’s southern Antalya resort in April.
