The line of trucks waiting at the Kapıkule border gate, the world’s second-largest customs gate in terms of both vehicle traffic and the number of people passing through, has reached 17 kilometers following a closure of the gate to all traffic after the Tunca River overflowed and caused mass flooding near the Bulgarian border pass of Kapitan Andreove. Authorities at the Kapıkule border gate noted that the three-day gate closure has caused trucks to line up in front of the Kapıkule gate and some 600 truck drivers are now waiting in line for their turn to pass through, saying: “As many truck drivers do not have transit bills to pass through Bulgaria and cannot use the Hamzabeyli border gate, they have to line up in front of the Kapıkule border gate. They have been waiting in lines for almost one week to pass through the gate to carry export goods to Balkan and European countries.” One of the truck drivers waiting his turn, İbrahim Yıldız, complained that he has been waiting at the Kapıkule border gate for one week: “As truck drivers, we have great trouble when passing through border gates. I do not have a transit bill to pass through Bulgaria and have been in line at Kapıkule for several days. They are trying to hinder Turkey from exporting goods to foreign countries. We are fed up with waiting in lines.” Officials from the Edirne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on the other hand, have announced that the transit bill problem between Bulgaria and Turkey has been resolved and the bills will be granted to truck drivers as soon as they are received from Bulgaria.
