Syria23 July, 20263 min read
Turkey Accelerates Nusaybin–Qamishli Border Crossing With Syria Before End of 2026
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Bilateral trade reached about $3.75 billion in 2025, with target rising to $10 billion. Turkey accelerates opening the Nusaybin–Qamishli border crossing before year-end 2026.
Border crossing push
Turkey is accelerating work to open the Nusaybin–Qamishli customs border crossing with Syria before the end of the year, according to Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat. The announcement came during a meeting at the TOBB (Turkish Confederation of Chambers and Exchanges) Twin Towers with Qutaiba Ahmed Badawi, head of the Border Crossings and Syrian Customs Administration, and Refat Hasarjioglu, and it was tied to bilateral trade of $3.75 billion. An official target set by the two sides is to raise trade to $10 billion, while the Nusaybin–Qamishli crossing is slated to open to trade, passengers, and transit by the end of 2026.
“Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat announced speeding up the work to open the Nusaybin–Qamishli customs border crossing with Syria before the end of the year.”
The same reporting says cross-border trade via Turkey and Syria toward Gulf states resumed in April, after the Saudi track’s closure lasted about 14 years and ended on April 15. In Ankara, Anadolu Ajansı reported Bolat said the volume of trade between Turkey and Syria stood at about $3.75 billion in 2025, rising by over 40 percent, as he reiterated the push toward $10 billion.
Idlib free zone talks
Syria’s economic engagement with Turkey is also being framed through the Idlib Free Zone and the dry port, with Qutaiba Ahmed Badawi describing them as an integrated hub for industry, trade, and logistics services. In Ankara, Badawi said Syria aims to elevate relations with Turkey from a phase of support and solidarity to a phase of full partnership in production, development, and investment, and he urged Turkish investors to participate in the Idlib Free Zone and dry port. The SANA report on a Syrian-Turkish meeting in Ankara says a delegation from the General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs, led by Qutaiba Badawi, held talks with Turkish Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat with Fadi Al-Qasim, the Chargé d'Affaires at the Syrian Embassy, in attendance.
SANA added that the discussions covered mechanisms to increase the volume of trade, facilitate the movement of goods and trucks across border crossings, develop transit flows, and address challenges facing merchants, importers, and exporters. The same SANA account said the two delegations attended the Syrian-Turkish Investment Forum organized by the Turkish company Bomako to introduce the commercial and industrial free zone and the dry port in Idlib Governorate, which was signed in May.
Transit and investment stakes
The reporting links the push for crossings and free zones to the resumption of transit flows, with Bolat saying the crossing work and transit movement since last April helped stimulate trade with Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Bahrain. Anadolu Ajansı also said Bolat pointed to corridors for transporting oil and natural gas that run from Turkey through Syria to Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf states, in light of disruptions tied to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. In the same set of accounts, the SANA meeting emphasized simplifying customs and administrative procedures to accelerate the flow of trade and strengthen Syria and Turkey’s position within regional trade and transport corridors.
SANA further reported that Badawi, in a speech to the forum, said the Idlib Free Zone and Dry Port project is strategic and regional because of its proximity to the Syrian-Turkish border and the Bab al-Hawa crossing, and because it sits at the intersection of the international routes (M4) and (M5). The stakes are framed as investment and production partnerships, with the SANA report saying Badawi urged Turkish companies, businesspeople, and investors to enter serious and long-term Syrian-Turkish partnerships and said the Authority is ready to accompany investors and address obstacles.