- Title: SYRIA/TURKEY: New dam set to strengthen Syrian-Turkish ties
- Date: 7th February 2011
- Summary: SYRIAN AND TURKISH FLAGS AL-OTRI WALKS UP TO PODIUM AL-OTRI STANDING AT PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN PRIME MINISTER, NAJI AL-OTRI SAYING: "I would like to point that the day of February 6, 2011, can be proudly called a day of the Syrian-Turkish friendship" SYRIAN AND TURKISH DELEGATIONS CLAPPING
- Embargoed: 22nd February 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey, Syrian Arab Republic
- City:
- Country: Turkey Syrian Arab Republic
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA6ZNJ4RQ0TIX5K7HHL3AH4FY0Z
- Story Text: Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otri joins his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyap Erdogan in a ceremony to mark the laying of the foundation stone for a dam, strengthening the ties between the two countries.
Syria and Turkey laid the foundation stone for a dam on Sunday (February 6) located on the Orontes river between the two countries.
Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otri and his Turkish Counterpart Recep Tayyep Erdogan attended an official ceremony marking the strengthening of ties between the two countries.
Erdogan said Syria and Turkey were not in competition but united during his address to delegations at the ceremony.
Turkey has boosted its ties and trade with Arab countries, lifting visa restrictions for citizens of several nations including Syria. Ankara aims to create a free trade zone without visa restrictions with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
The dam is expected to be 580 metres long and is aimed at producing electricity, some of which will be used to power tourism projects and irrigating farmland in both countries.
The electricity is very much needed in Syria where dilapidated infrastructure and underdevelopment is common, from the capital Damascus to the eastern region which has been reduced to a dust bowl by four years of drought that ravaged agriculture and displaced 600,000 people, a United Nations report said.
Electricity generation barely covers 70 percent of Syria's total demand. Even Aleppo, the once great cosmopolitan hub of Anatolia, sinks in darkness as authorities are forced to turn off street lights.
Al-Otri called the day one that marked Syrian and Turkish friendship.
The dam is located on the Orontes river which flows from Lebanon, passing through Syria and Turkey. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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