TEHRAN - An official with the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Turkey has “informally informed” Tehran of a plan to construct an Iran-Turkey border wall. 

“Iran is informally informed of Turkey’s intention to construct a wall along parts of its borders with Iran,” the official, who asked for anonymity, told the Tehran Times

“Apparently, Turkish officials intend to apply new measures to tighten border security.” 

The official did not elaborate on diplomatic contacts over the issue. 

On Tuesday, the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, quoting a senior official, reported that Ankara is considering plans to build a wall along the Turkish-Iranian border as part of measures against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).  

The PKK, which first took up arms more than three decades ago, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union.

Reportedly, the wall will be constructed along 70-km of the border near Agra and [the eastern province of] Igdir, and the rest will be protected with watch towers and iron fences, the report further said. 

Iranian-Turkish border stretches from north to south for more than 300 miles.

Turkey previously constructed a wall along the Syrian border to shield PKK and ISIS terrorists carrying out suicide attacks.

Turkish officials claim some 800 to 1,000 PKK guerrillas are in camps inside Iran. 

Tehran has not formally responded to the comments yet. 

Like Iraq and Turkey, Iran has a large Kurdish minority, mainly living in northwest and western areas of the country. 

In 2011, Iran threatened to take military action against the Iraq-based Kurdish rebel group PJAK, an offshoot of the PKK. 
 
Tehran and Ankara support opposite sides in the conflict in Syria. Iran backs the government of President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey has backed elements of the Syrian opposition.

Yet, the two, coupled with Russia, are directly involved in the Astana talks to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis. 

AK/PA