Edirne mayor demands regulation on signs in Bulgarian

EDİRNE - Demirören News Agency

Edirne Mayor Recep Gürkan has requested a commission to be established over the increasing number of Bulgarian signs and posters in the city after a recent decision that no longer requires Bulgarian citizens to obtain a visa to visit Türkiye.

“A regulation should be implemented as there is not a single Turkish word on the posters in question,” Gürkan said at the council meeting of the municipality, adding that locals are uncomfortable with this situation.

Calling the council members to establish a commission, Gürkan said, “This commission should work in parallel with legislation, listen to the experts if necessary, and take an action in the coming months.”

“Language is one of the common values of a nation. If you lose your language, you will lose everything,” Gürkan added, noting that they don’t complain about the Bulgarian citizens coming to the city.

“The discussion in question is very unnecessary as most of the recent shoppers are Bulgarians,” said Metin Barmanbay, a tradesman in the region.

Considering the signs in Bulgarian positive, Gülhan Ali, a tourist from Bulgaria, said, “The tradesmen of this region earn their living entirely from foreign tourists. I think it shouldn’t be reduced but should increase because the visitors are having difficulties in language.”

The respective decision, which allows Bulgarian visitors to stay in the country for a maximum of 90 days on visa-free travel, was published in the Official Gazette on July 27 and lured more shoppers to the country, particularly to the provinces on the common border.

Tradesmen in Edirne hanged signs and posters in Bulgarian on Saraçlar, the busiest street in the city, after the Bulgarian citizens started to meet all their needs from the city, from food to clothing.

The move is designed to attract more tourists from the neighboring country, which will give a boost to hard currency earnings of Türkiye.