DİYARBAKIR - Amid criticisms of locals and professional organizations, the Ministry of Transport has suspended the construction of a 12-kilometer double-sided wall in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

 

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has suspended the double-sided road project that will divide Diyarbakır province into two.

 

The project of the 5th Regional Directorate of State Railways foresees the construction of a 12-kilometer double-sided wall along the railroad. The wall is planned to extend from one end of the city to the other.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On August 31, 2020, the State Railways started the construction of a wall along the railroad tracks in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır. The wall will be 2 meters high, 50 centimeters wide and 12 kilometers long.

 

21 non-governmental organizations (NGO) based in Diyarbakır, including Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce, business associations and chambers affiliated with the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) denounced the project of the State Railways.

 

They called on the authorities to abandon the project as the wall was designed without considering the holistic developments of the city and without being shared with the dynamics of the city. The NGOs also raised concerns that the wall would divide the city into two from the west to the east.