Legalize trade, says customs minister

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Turkish government is getting ready to open a new border gate in Gülyazı on Turkey’s Iranian border following the Turkish Air Force’s “operational blunder” last week, which led to the deaths of 35 civilians who were engaged in cross border smuggling in Uludere, a nearby region.

“If these civilians are trading one way or another, we should open a border crossing and center here which would legalize this sort of border trade,” Turkey’s Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazıcı said, adding that the new border crossing would be erected both to facilitate cross border trade but also to curb illegal smuggling.

The Gülyazı crossing would be an addition to the Üzümlü and Derecik border crossings, which are already in the works, said Yazıcı. “If possible we would open Gülyazı tomorrow, but we have to get the necessary approval from government officials on both sides.”

This decision follows the deaths of 35 villagers who were killed in a Turkish military air raid along the Iraqi border on the night of Dec. 28 in what a senior ruling party member declared “an operational mistake.” The assault, which utilized F-16s and unmanned aerial vehicles, was conducted near
the Ortasu village of Uludere in the southeastern province of Şırnak.