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Turkiye ready to repair, rebuild infrastructure in war-torn Syria, says minister

December 24, 2024 at 4:32 pm

A view of the destruction due to airstrikes, artillery and heavy weapons bombardments by the regime forces throughout the Syrian civil war in Deir ez-Zor, Syria on December 21, 2024. [Kasım Amiri – Anadolu Agency]

Turkiye has prepared an action plan for repairing and rebuilding war-torn Syria’s airports, bridges, roads and railways, the Turkish minister of transportation and infrastructure said.

Syria has five airports, two of which have recently been operational, Damascus and Aleppo, Abdulkadir Uraloglu said at a press conference in the capital, Ankara, today, noting that these airports require significant improvements.

Damascus Airport handled approximately 100,000 trips last year, while Aleppo managed between 50,000 and 60,000, the minister said, adding that a Turkish team checked the airports and discovered that there is no radar system.

“There is an air radar application that we use on our mobile phones. imagine, they were trying to manage it from that mobile phone application,” he said.

Computers from the 1990s are still used at these airports, and there are no proper X-ray devices, detectors, or anything else, he explained.

He added that the runways are seriously aging and that the first flight to Damascus and Aleppo was entirely on the pilots’ initiative, in other words, without any system and under visual conditions.

“So our friends made a determination, and then we have put forward an action plan,” he said.

The minister said Turkiye will take action to revive Damascus Airport in the first phase.

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He said: “There are parts of the railways that go from Turkiye to Hijaz; they have not been operated for a long time. we will quickly identify them and take a position to ensure the integrity of the railroad up to Damascus in the first place.

“We sent passenger trains there in 2009-2010. There is infrastructure there, but only in certain regions.”

However, in the past, some railway parts were stolen in certain regions, such as Iraq, and the same situation may be seen in Syria, he said.

“I can say that we have done a lot of work there and repaired many destroyed bridges,” he added.

The minister said Syria is 20-30 years behind Turkiye in terms of communication, noting that cell phones are not used at many points.

He highlighted that Syria was not even able to print its own money, Russia has been printing cash for it.

He acknowledged Syria’s strategic location as a gateway to the Mediterranean but noted that its ports are underdeveloped. “We will most likely make determined efforts to make specific investments there.

“Of course, a Maritime Jurisdiction Agreement, probably, so that we can protect our interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Blue Homeland; our relevant institutions will take a position there when the day comes.”

“In terms of trade,” the minister said, Damascus and Syria have a history. “We will do our best to revive it.”

Stating that such an agreement will increase the effectiveness and competence of both Syria and Turkiye, he said: “At the point of oil and hydrocarbon exploration there, taking into account international law, we will share or expand all kinds of authority as two countries.”

“Of course, first of all, an authority needs to be established there. Look, the salaries of the civil servants there need to be paid.”

He also said there is a plan for armed groups to lay down their arms. “This will definitely be on the agenda, but it would not be very accurate to say that it is today’s agenda.”

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