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A new step from Turkey: Maritime jurisdiction agreement to be made with Syria

Minister of Transport Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that a maritime jurisdiction agreement could be made with the new administration in Syria and that Turkey has created an emergency action plan to rebuild Syria's infrastructure.

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Following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria have begun to be reshaped.

First, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Chief İbrahim Kalın went to Damascus and prayed at the Umayyad Mosque. Subsequently, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan would visit Damascus in the near future.

Last week, Minister Fidan met with HTS leader Jolani in Damascus. It is alleged that Erdoğan will also go to Damascus this week.

"WE ARE WORKING ON AN EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN IN SYRIA"

Finally, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu met with representatives of media organizations at the 'Anatolian Conversations' program of the Anatolian Broadcasters Federation.

Touching upon the reconstruction of Syria, Minister Uraloğlu stated that there is a need for everything in Syria. Uraloğlu noted that there are 5 airports in Syria, and that about 100 thousand passengers traveled through Damascus Airport and 50-60 thousand through Aleppo last year.

Explaining that the delegation that went to Syria last week conducted inspections at these two airports for 2 days, Uraloğlu said, "First of all, there is no radar system at all. There is an air radar application we follow on mobile phones; they are trying to manage air radar from that mobile phone application. How reliable is it? It is never reliable. There are tube computer monitors from the 1990s. There are no proper x-ray devices, no detectors. There is serious wear and tear on the runways. The first flights made to Damascus and Aleppo were carried out entirely at the initiative of the pilots, under visual conditions, without any system. Our colleagues made assessments, and we put forward an action plan. In the first stage, we will take action to revive Damascus Airport together with our General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ)."

'WE WILL PROVIDE RAILWAY INTEGRITY UP TO DAMASCUS'

Stating that they have not yet made an assessment in the field regarding railways, Uraloğlu said, "We will quickly make that assessment, and then we will take action to provide railway integrity up to Damascus. We are also assessing the situation on the highways. But we know the regions where Turkey operates. I would like to say that we have done a lot of work there in terms of highways. I can say that we are repairing the destroyed bridges. In terms of communication, there is no normal communication in many places. We will make the necessary assessments regarding these. As a ministry, we will try to implement these."

Stating that Syria's currency is printed by Russia, Uraloğlu said, "Think about it, one country's currency is printed by another country. Turkey will likely be in a position to provide support at this point as well. We have started to carry out these works under the coordination of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our National Intelligence Organization. From now on, we will try to help those places by making the necessary assessments in a more professional manner, but without delay, hopefully."

'WE WILL TAKE ACTION FOR OUR INTERESTS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN'

Emphasizing that Syria is an important gateway to the Mediterranean, Minister Uraloğlu said, "We know that its ports have hardly developed. We will likely have assessments and efforts regarding making certain investments there. In the future, a maritime jurisdiction agreement will likely be made, and it is definitely out of the question for us to take action to protect our interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. Damascus and Syria have a history in terms of trade. We will do our best to revive it. This is a study that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is conducting one-on-one and from which they receive information from us. This is not very new. We always had this in our minds, saying 'If relations with Syria normalize one day, we will make such an agreement.' But right now, a government is only just being formed. A transitional government will be formed, and then it will move towards a permanent government. We are thinking about this. But we haven't prepared it immediately, saying 'this is the draft'."

'OUR AREA OF COMPETENCE THERE...'

Touching upon the advantages of the agreement for Turkey, Minister Uraloğlu said, "Such an agreement would expand both Syria's and our area of activity or competence there, and we would have shared or expanded all kinds of authority as two countries, taking into account international law regarding all kinds of oil and hydrocarbon exploration there. Of course, there is Lebanon there, there is Israel. Definitely taking them into account, when we consider Syria as the geography closest to us, it will be a matter of that entire region being clearly under the control of the two countries. For this, authority must be established. Look, the salaries of the civil servants there must be paid. There is an agenda regarding armed groups laying 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."

Regarding flights between Turkey and Syria, Minister Uraloğlu said, "There is a bit of a problem regarding international flights. Perhaps if we provide Damascus-Istanbul in the first stage, we will have opened them to the whole world. It would be a bit early for me to give a date; but we have started our work regarding field work, repair, maintenance work, and the installation of systems. We will implement this as soon as possible without delaying it too much."

'WE WILL DO IT WITH AN EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN'

Stating that their goal in Syria is to make assessments in the first stage, Minister Uraloğlu said, "We have started to make assessments under the coordination of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We also came up with a figure regarding the airports. In the first stage, we will reveal what we can do with our own means, and we will show this will. We will also provide the necessary support through these institutions, whether it be through TİKA or AFAD. These are things that will be done with an emergency action plan; but we will also have a study on the point that serious financing must definitely be provided there for the continuation."

Stating that 5 years is a short time for the work in Syria, Minister Uraloğlu said, "In other words, is it possible to recover in a period like 5 years? It is not possible to recover immediately, it will probably take 10 years. But our intention is to correctly identify the urgency and priorities there and touch upon them accordingly."

LATEST STATUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT ROAD

Regarding the Development Road, Minister Uraloğlu said, "The first phase of Iraq's Faw Port will be commissioned in 2025, and it will have started port activities there. The part that concerns us is a highway of approximately 1,200 kilometers. We can say that its project is more or less finished. Only the negotiations between the regional administration and the central government regarding where it will pass in northern Iraq are continuing. We are following it up-to-date. We are talking about everything from the management style to its financing and operation. There are things that need to be done in Turkey, we are planning these. It will pass through Turkey with approximately 2,092 kilometers of railway. There are things we need to do here. From Ovaköy to Kapıkule. It will also pass through a highway of approximately 1,900 kilometers. We are also planning the things we need to do regarding the highway on the one hand."

SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION

Regarding regulations for social media channels, Minister Uraloğlu said that they are working together with the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Interior.

Minister Uraloğlu said, "We are talking to the Digital Channels Commission. A regulation definitely needs to be made. Anyone who picks up a microphone on social media or shoots a video in some way can commit all kinds of disinformation. The existing regulations are not sufficient. We definitely need to impose responsibilities here, not just with the reflex of protecting children, but with the reflex of protecting the whole society. Companies say 'I have my own rules.' This is our country, and we have our own rules too. No one should take offense. There are decisions and regulations taken in this sense in many countries in the world, and we are following them. We must primarily protect our children. At least we have studies on the point of sources providing information having certain responsibilities and bringing an access ban under a certain age group. We are trying to do this not with a prohibitive mentality, but with a protective mentality here."

'THERE IS NO METRO PROJECT WAITING FOR APPROVAL'

Regarding metro debates, Uraloğlu said, "The authority to approve all kinds of metro projects regarding metros is with our ministry. Why? So that every municipality does not create a discipline according to its own mind and there is integrity. Therefore, we say 'let us approve all kinds of projects' and we approve them. Currently, there is no metro approval waiting with us, whether it is from our AK Party or other parties. Sometimes they bring them, there are times when we say 'fix this part.' However, there is nothing we put aside and wait. Metros that appeal entirely within the city are the responsibility of the relevant municipality. After the project is approved, if the relevant municipality wants it to be done by the Ministry and our President deems it appropriate, we as the Ministry take it, do it, and deliver it to them. We can also build and operate some main arteries entirely ourselves."

Uraloğlu also said that they are working on a project change regarding the Ankara Esenboğa Airport Metro, and that the process regarding how it will be done will also be discussed at the end of this work.

'THEY DID NOT OPEN 6 CENTIMETERS OF METRO IN 6 YEARS'

Emphasizing that some of the metros opened in Istanbul recently are projects started during the AKP period, Minister Uraloğlu said, “If they said, ‘They started it, it was our fate to open it,’ that is also an approach. But when you look at it in general, there are only 8 kilometers of metro that they started and opened until the election. We had delivered one of them at the 90 percent level. In other words, trains had started to go back and forth on it. Let them give credit where credit is due, we are not saying anything to this. When we come to Ankara, they did not open 6 centimeters of metro in 6 years. It doesn't look like it can be opened either."