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Syria, Turkey resolve six-decade-old territorial dispute

By: Sultan Ahmed

ANKARA, Turkey: Syria officially acknowledged that the disputed border province of Alexandretta belongs to Turkey, the Turkish daily Hurrit reported in its Monday editions.

According to the report a recently signed trade deal between Syria and Turkey settled the 66-year-old dispute. An additional clause was added to the bilateral agreement in which Damascus recognized that Alexandretta belongs to Turkey.

The clause also demanded the two neighbors to recognize each other’s borders.

The trade agreement was signed during a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Syria last month.

"The importance of the agreement derives from a marginal clause written into it, which defines the countries' borders." a reporter who attended the signing of the trade agreement said.

Both countries claimed sovereignty over the Alexandretta province, referred to as Hatay in Turkey.

The conflict started in 1938 when the Turkish army seized the disputed province. The Turks regard the province as an inseparable part of their country while the Syrians view it as a part of their homeland before Syria’s independence from the French occupation.

The daily said Turkish Foreign Ministry officials confirmed the settlement of the old territorial dispute.

END