Turkey, Bulgaria to solve truck drivers’ issues with hotline

SOFIA – Anadolu Agency

Earlier this month, the neighboring countries closed their borders after Sofia approved only 5,000 out of the 125,000 transit permits requested by Turkey’s drivers at the beginning of the year. DHA Photo

Bulgaria and Turkey will establish call centers for Turkish and Bulgarian truck drivers to prevent transit permit problems, said Bulgarian Transportation, Information Technologies and Telecommunications Minister Danail Papazov.

The call centers to be established in Turkey and Bulgaria will go into operation on March 1, enabling Turkish and Bulgarian truck drivers to call authorities immediately when they face a problem at the border gates.

Papazov said the main purpose of the call centers were to overcome problems stemming from transit permits.

“Truck drivers will get in contact with the authorities quickly and problems will be resolved in a shorter time,” said Papazov.

Earlier this month, the neighboring countries closed their borders after Sofia approved only 5,000 out of the 125,000 transit permits requested by Turkey’s drivers at the beginning of the year.

The row ended last week when Turkish Transport Minister Lütfi Elvan announced that Bulgaria issued around 100,000 passes.

The transit permit crisis, which lasted for 13 days, caused lengthy traffic jams at the border for hundreds of Turkish and Bulgarian trucks and buses.