Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said that the “Cilvegözü” crossing in Hatay is an important gateway to the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf via Syria under the new administration following the overthrow of the Assad regime.
This came in statements on Saturday during his visit to the Cilvegözü crossing opposite the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian side, where he greeted Syrians at the crossing who were waiting to return to their homeland.
Bolat stressed the beginning of a new phase in Syria after December 8 following the fall of the Baath regime.
He explained that Turkey and Syria share a 910 km border, in addition to many historical, cultural, social and economic ties.
He pointed out that there are 8 border crossings between the two countries, 3 of which are in Hatay province, stressing that “Cilvegözü” was one of the most important Turkish crossings that open to Syria, the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf.
“We want to work closely with the new Syrian administration to make the crossing from Turkey to Syria, and this important international route to the Middle East, more efficient,” he added.
Regarding the Yayladağı crossing opposite the Syrian Kasab crossing, the minister said that work is ongoing to improve customs facilities with Syria and that the crossing will soon open for commercial traffic.
He added: “The 61-year-old Baath regime has ended, and during the new phase in which the Syrian people hope to gain their freedom and yearn for prosperity and development, a very important and strong phase will begin in relations between Turkey and Syria.”
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The Turkish Minister of Trade confirmed that “the three border gates in Hatay province will play a major role in developing bilateral relations.”
He continued: “After the completion of the modernization and expansion work at the Yayladağı crossing, it will be opened for commercial traffic with Syria.”
Bolat explained that the ministry has prepared new systems for trade with Syria and has carried out modernization and improvement work on the customs gates.
He stated that the Turkish crossings “Cilvegözü”, “Olive Branch” and “Yayladağı” will become an important transportation network between Turkey and Syria, extending across the Turkmen Mountain in the Latakia countryside to the cities of Latakia and Tartous.
He added: “We will work together to rebuild Syria and raise the numbers of mutual investments and trade to very high levels to strengthen and develop the Syrian economy.”
“There will be very good economic cooperation between Turkey and Syria, and to achieve this we will do everything in our power to achieve this based on the instructions of President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan,” Bolat added.
On December 8, Syrian factions extended their control over the capital Damascus, days after controlling other cities, thus ending 61 years of bloody Baath Party rule and 53 years of the Assad family regime.
The next day, the leader of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, announced the assignment of Muhammad al-Bashir to head the government that had been running Idlib for years, to form a new Syrian government to manage the transitional phase.
