Expatriates in Europe continue to arrive in Turkey

Expatriates living in various European countries continue to arrive in their homeland to spend their summer vacations.

Expatriates arriving by road have created congestion at the Kapıkule Border Gate, which opens from Bulgaria to Edirne.

At Kapıkule, where long vehicle queues have formed, all 25 lanes have been opened to process the entry of expatriates into the country.

"I WILL VISIT MY FAMILY AFFECTED BY THE EARTHQUAKE"

Gül Özkan, who came from Germany and is heading to her hometown of Malatya, said, "The journey went well, the roads are good, everything is good. Thank God, there is excitement, of course. We will see our family. Our hometown is Malatya. Since we are earthquake survivors, we have family there, we will visit them. We have entered under the Turkish flag, is there anything better than this? Of course not."

"I WILL HOLD A WEDDING FOR MY SON"

Rıfat Berk, who came from the city of Stuttgart in Germany, stated that he would hold a wedding for his son in Turkey.

Berk said, "It has been 42 hours, we are still on the road. We are going to Şarkışla, Sivas; I have a 1,200-kilometer journey. Yesterday, entering Bulgaria took 3.5 hours. They said there was construction on a 4-kilometer stretch, but there was no construction. I will take a 4-week vacation. My son is coming by plane; I will get my son married. He is coming by plane, I applaud the airline companies; he paid 700 euros per person. The two of us had to come by road, and we also have our belongings. Think about the state of the expatriates."

"WE FORGOT ALL OUR TROUBLES UPON ARRIVING IN TURKEY"

İsmail and İlayda Türkoğlu, a couple who came from the city of Ghent in Belgium, explained that they set off with their newborn baby.

İsmail Türkoğlu said, "This year, the holiday started on time. We are going to Emirdağ, Afyon. Kapıkule was crowded, but the crossing was fast and fluid. We forgot all our troubles upon arriving in Turkey." İlayda Türkoğlu added, "We have a 2.5-month-old baby, her first visit to the homeland. Her name is Ahsen Mina. It is very beautiful to see Turkey. She will see her family for the first time. She is the youngest member of the family."

Mustafa Turgut, who came from Germany, also said that he would spend his annual leave in Turkey.

Stating that he is very happy to have arrived in Turkey, Turgut said, "We have reached our homeland, our soil. The journey was very difficult. We waited for 6-7 hours under the sun in Serbia. We are very happy to have arrived in our homeland."

Although there is occasional congestion at the Kapıkule Border Gate, police and customs personnel are working long hours to ensure that expatriates do not wait too long during their processing.

Teams from the Provincial Security Directorate are on duty at the 12 lanes at the entrance of the border gate. Two police officers work in each lane to ensure that procedures are carried out quickly. Customs personnel are also carrying out customs inspection procedures.

ALL-TIME RECORD

According to statistics announced by the Edirne Governorship, an all-time record was broken over the weekend in terms of the number of passengers and vehicles entering through the Kapıkule Border Gate.

On Sunday, 9,005 passenger vehicles and 38,692 passengers entered Turkey through Kapıkule.

Since June 22, nearly 575,000 people have entered through 150,000 vehicles via the Kapıkule, Hamzabeyli, Dereköy, Pazarkule, and İpsala border gates.