Türkiye’s Ministry of Trade said on Thursday it was stepping up diplomatic efforts to ease Schengen visa problems faced by Turkish international truck drivers, after drivers staged a protest at border gates in Edirne province, on the road to Bulgaria and Greece.
In a written statement reported by Anadolu Agency (AA), the ministry said Trade Minister Ömer Bolat was working in coordination with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu. According to the statement, Bolat had met his Bulgarian counterparts and European Commission officials and asked for visa facilitation and more flexible, priority processing for drivers.
The ministry said visa restrictions and application delays at the Kapıkule and Hamzabeyli border gates, both on the Bulgarian frontier, were being closely monitored, and that steps were being developed so that international road haulage, and with it foreign trade, was not interrupted.
Update, 12:24: According to the ministry statement carried by İlke News Agency (İLKHA), Trade Minister Ömer Bolat met Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev and the head of the EU Delegation to Türkiye, and held a teleconference with the board of the International Transporters’ Association (UND). Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Bulgaria’s prime minister and foreign minister, and Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu passed Türkiye’s requests to his Bulgarian counterpart, the reports said. Bulgarian authorities said the rule is applied under the EU’s Schengen framework and that they have no direct national power to intervene, and Türkiye will raise the issue with the European Commission to seek flexibility, the ministry statement said. Separately, Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported that representatives of international transport companies met drivers at Kapıkule; drivers told DHA they are commercial workers, not tourists, and want a quick solution. (Sources: İLKHA via Malatya Güncel, DHA via Haberler.com.)
Drivers switch off engines at the border
The statement followed a protest by truck drivers who serve European routes. İhlas News Agency (İHA) reported on Wednesday evening that drivers had been stopping their trucks and switching off their engines for about 24 hours at the Kapıkule, İpsala and Hamzabeyli gates, preventing trucks from leaving for Europe. İpsala leads to Greece, while Kapıkule and Hamzabeyli lead to Bulgaria, Takvim noted.
The drivers say the Schengen rule limiting stays to 90 days in any 180-day period causes them serious hardship, and stress that they travel for commercial purposes, not as tourists, İHA reported. Takvim newspaper said drivers were also protesting long waits at the border, with queues lasting hours, and that at times both entries and exits were halted.
None of the reports gave a figure for the number of drivers or trucks involved, and it was not clear from the reports whether the protest was still continuing on Thursday.
Advice to hauliers
The Trade Ministry urged transport companies and drivers to follow current Schengen visa rules and permitted stay periods closely, and to plan trips and driver rotations accordingly to avoid congestion and hardship at the gates.
Sources
- Tır şoförlerini ilgilendiren vize açıklaması! 3 bakanlık devrede (AA via Bigpara/Hürriyet)
- Tır şoförlerinin vize çilesi için 3 bakanlık devrede: AB ve Bulgaristan ile kritik temas (AA via Yeni Şafak)
- Avrupa’ya açılan sınır kapısında kontak kapattılar (İHA via Memurlar.net)
- Tır şoförlerinin Schengen vizesi sorunu için 3 bakanlık devrede (Takvim)
Photo: Tevfik Teker / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
