Turkey to resume restrictions that caused protests by Bulgarian lorry drivers
Turkey will from June 1 resume restrictive measures on Bulgarian freight lorries and could even tighten these restrictions, which in May have led to protests and border blockades by Bulgarian lorry drivers.
This is according to Koicho Roussev, a member of the managing board of the Association of Bulgarian Enterprises for International Road Transport.
The protests began on May 9 and among steps to deal with the situation there has been Bulgarian government and diplomatic intervention, along with talks in Leipzig and Istanbul.
Speaking on May 28, after eight hours of negotiations in Istanbul, Roussev – who was among the Bulgarian delegation to talks with an association of Turkish road freight companies – said that the Bulgarians had made proposals to resolve the situation “but they are categorical that from June 1 they will restore the restrictive measures and they even plan new ones.”
The Bulgarian companies see the Turkish moves as intended to crush the competitiveness of Bulgarian haulers, local news agency Focus quoted Roussev as saying.
On May 23, after the talks in Leipzig between Bulgarian Transport Minister Kristian Krastev and his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildarim, Krastev said that Turkey had agreed the review the restrictions. Talks at official “expert” level were to follow, Krastev said at the time.
(Photo: suzunkaya/sxc.hu)
