A Taiwan-funded civic center on the border between Turkey and Syria was on Friday completed after a year of construction.
The Taiwan-Reyhanli Center for World Citizens in Reyhanli, in southeastern Turkey’s Hatay Province, is to serve as a link among Taiwanese, Turks and Syrians, Representative to Turkey Yaser Cheng (鄭泰祥) said.
At the completion ceremony, Cheng and Reyhanli Mayor Mehmet Hacioglu unveiled a steel plate inlayed on the building with the words “Taiwan Center” in English, with the word “Taiwan” also written in Chinese characters.
Photo: CNA
The building consists of 52 multipurpose rooms for offices, classrooms, shops, cafes and artists’ workshops.
It is expected to be a design center and plant to roll out innovative products and local specialties made by Turkish residents and Syrian refugees.
Since Syria plunged into civil war in 2011, almost 120,000 people have fled to neighboring Reyhanli. As the city has a population of about 100,000, the density of refugees to locals is the highest among all of the Turkish cities along the border with Syria.
The civic center is to invite the Turkish government, as well as non-governmental organizations and enterprises from around the world, to station representatives there, Cheng said, adding that Taiwan’s government and private sector would continue to support the project.
Although Taiwan and Turkey are far apart, both would continue to support each other, Hacioglu said, adding that he hopes the two will have more cooperation.
Hacioglu also wished Taiwanese people peace and good health.
The Reyhanli city government has appointed Chiu Chen-yu (裘振宇), the lead architect of the construction project, the CEO of the civic center.
“We will try our best to take on the crisis posed by [COVID-19] on the Turkish side between the border with Syria,” Chiu said.
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