Passport-free entries into Georgia hit 9 mln

ARTVİN–Demirören News Agency

The number of people entering Georgia’s Batumi province from Turkey’s northeastern province of Artvin has reached 9 million annually, Sarp border gate data showed as of June 10.

Long queues and traffic congestion created a scene of chaos around the border gate at the end of the nine-day Eid al-Fitr holiday which ended on June 9.

“Enabling people to cross the border with identity cards only is important because it affects our relations positively. We have common operating models at our customs,” said Avtandil Mikatsadze, Georgian Consul General in the Black Sea border province of Trabzon, on June 10.

“Since our relations with Turkey have been improving with each passing day, the border gates will remain insignificant in the future,” he added.

The abolition of the requirement to show passports at the Turkish-Georgian border in 2011 has led to a huge influx of Turkish tourists to the border town of Batumi.

Casinos, night clubs and other leisure facilities in Batumi, the capital of Georgia’s Autonomous Republic of Adjara, draw thousands of Turks especially from Black Sea provinces of Artvin, Rize, Trabzon, Giresun, Ordu and Samsun every day. Border crossings accelerate immensely during long holidays.