The 144-km barrier on Iran-Turkey border is aimed at preventing illegal refugees from entering Turkey, Suleyman Soylu said at a press conference being reported on Wednesday.

According to IRNA Soylu told reporters that the 'security wall' will also prevent the terrorists from infiltrating into the borders of the two countries.

Over 7,000 Afghan refugees have illegally entered Turkey through the Iranian borders and been deported back to their country, Soylu said.

Asked about the reason of construction of the wall, the Turkish minister said the goal behind the project is to counter terrorism and drug smuggling activities and prevent the Afghan refugees from illegally entering Turkey.

Despite the move, the Turkish officials have said that they feel no animosity towards the Afghan refugees and see them as their brothers, but their illegal entry into Turkey has endangered national security here, said the Turkish minister.

Turkey and Afghanistan are Iran's western and eastern neighbors respectively.

Reporter’s code: 50101