EDIRNE, Turkey
Truck drivers who have been waiting at the Turkish-Bulgarian border, due to a transit pass row between the two countries, are able to cross the Kapikule border gate from Thursday.
Turkey’s Transport Minister Lutfi Elvan said late on Wednesday that a dispute over transit passes for trucks travelling between Turkey and Bulgaria has been solved after Bulgaria decided to issue around 100,000 passes.
Celal Dogru, one of the truck drivers waiting at the border, said that he had been waiting for four days to enter Turkey. “The problem has been solved and I hope it won’t happen again,” he said.
Bulgaria’s Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Anton Ginev said the issue would be discussed at a ministerial-level meeting on February 17.
The two countries closed the border after Sofia approved only 5,000 of the 125,000 transit permits requested by Turkish trucks at the beginning of the year.
The three-day blockade at the Bulgaria-Turkey border has been removed and the traffic has returned to normal, said a statement from Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry.
Bulgaria’s Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Anton Ginev said the issue would be discussed in a ministerial-level meeting on February 17, in Istanbul.
Turkey and Bulgaria closed the border last week after Sofia approved only 5,000 of the 125,000 transit permits requested by Turkish trucks at the beginning of the year.
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