WORLD
Syria, Turkey to build ‘Friendship Dam’
Baku, February 7 (AZERTAC). Syria and Turkey have laid the foundation stone for "Friendship Dam" capable of storing 115 million cubic meters of water on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart Muhammad Naji Otri together on Sunday performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the dam on the Orontes River, which flows from Lebanon into Syria and Turkey.
The dam, which is estimated at $28.5 million, is 580 meters (1,903 feet) long and 14.5 meters high.
It aims to prevent floods, generate 16 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and irrigate 10,000 hectares of agricultural fields in both countries annually, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
Erdogan later met with President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, 360 kilometers north of capital Damascus, and discussed bilateral cooperation and regional affairs.
Both leaders expressed deep satisfaction over close cooperation between the two countries in all fields, especially the cooperation which lead to the building of the Friendship Dam, according to a statement issued after the meeting.
The leaders also stressed the importance of broader economic cooperation and stability between the two states, the statement said.
Turkey`s ties with Syria and other Arab countries in the Middle East improved under Erdogan`s premiership, with a series of trade deals and visa-free travel accords signed between Turkey and countries in the region, including Lebanon.