An aerial view shows long lines of vehicles queuing at a busy border crossing facility.
Around 3.7 million passengers and 1 million vehicles crossed through border gates in the northwestern province of Edirne since June 22 as the expatriate travel season enters its final stretch.
Edirne Governor Yunus Sezer, speaking at the Kapıkule Border Gate, stated that the return journeys of citizens living abroad are ongoing and that border traffic has been managed more efficiently this year than last season. A three-year record for vehicle departures was broken with 5,587 cars exiting on Aug. 30. The peak congestion period arrived one week earlier last year, but the high volume of transit continues steadily this season, he said.
Coordination and talks with Bulgarian authorities reduced average wait times to 27 minutes from 39 minutes last year. Peak delays, however, still reach up to two hours on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Around 60,000 expatriates will return over the next 10 days. The border gates operate around the clock with 1,471 personnel, including 137 temporary customs and 90 temporary police officers assigned for the season to ensure rapid transit.
Regulations by the Trade Ministry, alongside the Treasury and Finance Ministry, resolved double-payment issues involving highway tolls, bridge fees and traffic fines.
Authorities seized nearly 400 kilograms of narcotics this week, making total drug seizures four times higher than the same period last year. Sezer thanked personnel for their diligence in anti-smuggling efforts.
European-based Turkish expatriates undertake mass land journeys to their hometowns every summer. Kapıkule is the primary transit route connecting Türkiye to Europe.
