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Syrian border gate closed for Turkish trucks: report

05 December 2011 18:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. An official from Turkey’s International Transporters Association said Monday that Syria has blocked the entrance of Turkish trucks for five days at the Babel Hawas Border Gate, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The Syrian side was claiming that they were updating the computer systems, Hamit Sanverdi, a member of the executive board of the association, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

The Syrians began working on their computer systems on Dec. 1, the day when Syrian officials suspended a free trade deal with Turkey, Sanverdi said, adding that, for the past five days, they ( the Syrian border staffs) were not letting any truck with a Turkish license enter Syria.

As around 700 trucks were waiting at the Babel Hawas Border Gate and commodities including fruits, vegetables had gone rotten, the possible retaliatory move of the Syrian side has also extended to many other Syrian border gates, Sanverdi said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced last week a series of sanction measures against Syria, including the freezing of its government assets in Turkey, the blockade of weapons delivery through Turkey, a travel ban on Syrian leaders, and the suspension of relations between the Turkish and Syrian central banks.

Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has gradually toughened its criticism of the Syrian administration for its crackdown on protests. Turkish leaders have on many occasions called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end the crackdown and step down.

Syrian border gate closed for Turkish trucks: report
English.news.cn 2011-12-05 23:33:19 FeedbackPrintRSS

ANKARA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- An official from Turkey’s International Transporters Association said Monday that Syria has blocked the entrance of Turkish trucks for five days at the Babel Hawas Border Gate.

The Syrian side was claiming that they were updating the computer systems, Hamit Sanverdi, a member of the executive board of the association, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

The Syrians began working on their computer systems on Dec. 1, the day when Syrian officials suspended a free trade deal with Turkey, Sanverdi said, adding that, for the past five days, they ( the Syrian border staffs) were not letting any truck with a Turkish license enter Syria.

As around 700 trucks were waiting at the Babel Hawas Border Gate and commodities including fruits, vegetables had gone rotten, the possible retaliatory move of the Syrian side has also extended to many other Syrian border gates, Sanverdi said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced last week a series of sanction measures against Syria, including the freezing of its government assets in Turkey, the blockade of weapons delivery through Turkey, a travel ban on Syrian leaders, and the suspension of relations between the Turkish and Syrian central banks.

Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has gradually toughened its criticism of the Syrian administration for its crackdown on protests. Turkish leaders have on many occasions called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end the crackdown and step down.