Turkey Opens New 'Olive Branch' Checkpoint on Border With Syria

Date: 16 March 2019 - 21:27

News ID: ۶۴۲۸۱

ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkey has opened a new checkpoint on its border with Syria in the southern Hatay province, Anadolu has reported.
"The gate [checkpoint] has strategic importance in terms of easy transportation of humanitarian aid to the demilitarized regions [of Syria], especially to Afrin," Rahmi Dogan, a provincial official, said as quoted by the Turkish news agency Anadolu.
Dogan also highlighted the importance of the checkpoint for the promotion of trade in the region.
According to the report, two aid trucks to Syria passed through the newly-opened border-crossing on Friday.
The checkpoint is named "Olive Branch" after Turkey's military operation by the same name launched in 2018 to free the Afrin district in Syria's northern Aleppo province from terrorists. Although Turkey triumphantly announced on 20 March that it had cleared all terrorists from the area, Damascus condemned Turkey's military operation saying it violated Syrian sovereignty.
Turkey, alongside Russia and Iran, is a guarantor of the ceasefire in Syria, following a years-long armed conflict. Ankara has also been assisting in providing humanitarian aid to the millions of displaced Syrians returning to their home country.
In another development, Turkey sentenced an Australian national to seven years and six months in prison for joining the Daesh terrorist group.
Neil Christopher Prakash was arrested in October 2016 when trying to illegally cross the Syrian border into the Turkish southeastern province of Kilis.
Prakash, who is currently remanded in custody in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep, attended his last hearing via a video link from the prison.
Australia accuses him of planning attacks in the country and recruiting IS militants. He is facing charges of plotting an attack during the Anzac Day ceremonies in 2015.
Anzac Day is a national day in Australia that remembers Australians who served and died in conflicts.
Last December, Australian Interior Ministry revoked his citizenship.