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The streets and shopping streets of Turkey’s northwestern city of Edirne are crowded with visitors from across the border, a month after a rule allowing Bulgarian citizens to enter without a passport took effect.
Known as frequent visitors to Edirne, tourists and consumers from Bulgaria are heading across the border almost daily to fulfill their many needs and take advantage of competitive prices and high quality goods from Turkey.
Arrivals peaked after an announcement in the official gazette on August 27 that travelers from Bulgaria were cleared to visit Turkey with their national ID.
Bulgarians were previously visa-free for tourist purposes and transit passes with a maximum stay of 90 days out of a 180-day period.
Turkey and Bulgaria share friendly and neighborly relations as NATO partners. The Turkish diaspora living in Bulgaria also plays an important role in promoting political and economic relations between the two countries.
The regulation appears to be a new development for Edirne as the number of arrivals from Bulgaria at the Kapikule and Hamzabeyli border crossings began to rise by 20,000 over the weekend, the head of the city’s trade and industry department said.
“By the end of the week, our peak numbers were hovering around 12,000 to 16,000. Now we’re looking at 20,000. It will make a great contribution to the city’s economy, said Recep Zıpkinkurt, head of the Edirne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to Demiroren News Service (DHA).
This figure is likely to increase further in the coming days, says Zipkinkurt.
“Because our border crossings are very congested. We have imports and exports. “We will see a significant increase in the number of guests from Bulgaria when there is an expected relaxation of the gates in the coming days,” he said.
Zipkinkurt said migrants from the Black Sea and the interior have also gained momentum in addition to the recent guidelines. “In total, it was about 180 kilometers (112 miles) of access road, which went up to 350-400 kilometers,” he added.
The number of Bulgarian tourists coming to Edirne for shopping is expected to increase by at least 30 percent compared to previous years, Zipkinkurt said. “Together with entries with ID, the number of Bulgarian tourists will exceed 3 million by the end of the year.”
Local businessman Mehmet Demir also emphasized the increased activity in the city.
“In the last two or three weeks, a lot of people have been coming from Bulgaria with IDs,” Demir said, adding that he expects a further increase in the coming weeks.
Aysel Dursun, a Bulgarian citizen of Turkish origin, entered Turkey with her husband Hasan Dursun on an ID card.
“We came here very comfortably. I call on Bulgarians to come out. Everything here is very high quality and cheap,” Dursun told DHA.
“It’s cheap and convenient for us. We buy shoes here, we buy for the house. We buy everything,” said Mustafa Mitkov, another Bulgarian citizen.
It saves us money because we come in comfort. Anyone can come with freedom. Now it’s easier to come to Turkey.”
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