site.btaTurkish Ambassador: Attempts of 7,000 Migrants to Cross Common Border Foiled in Last 5 Months

The migrant pressure on the common border between Bulgaria and Turkiye is huge, and Turkiye is doing everything that depends on it to protect Bulgaria from an even more serious influx of illegal migrants, Turkish Ambassador in Sofia Aylin Sekizkok said in an interview for Nova TV broadcast on Saturday. In her words, in the last five months her country has foiled attempts of 7,000 migrants to cross the common border, and has accepted 3,000 back. According to her, Bulgaria should improve border protection with new equipment, such as drones and radars, with additional manpower, and with better cooperation between the two countries’ border teams.  

Last year was extremely difficult for Turkiye, the Ambassador explained, specifying that despite the country’s efforts, more than 300,000 migrants made it into Turkiye illegally. Over 145,000 of them were sent back to their countries. In 2022, Turkiye managed to foil the attempt of 30,000 migrants to get to Europe. “We accept those who are returning. Some 10,000 migrants have returned from Bulgaria,” she said. The migrant pressure continues this year, she added.

The Turkish Ambassador congratulated Bulgaria’s new prime minister and ministers, and expressed the hope that the bilateral cooperation will continue, because there are many more projects to yet be implemented. “In the last two years, despite the internal problems and lack of a regular government, our bilateral ties reached their highest point,” she said. She gave as examples the new lanes on the Kapitan Andreevo border control checkpoint, which eased the heavy duty truck traffic, and the long-term agreement on gas supplies from Turkiye, which is key for the bilateral energy cooperation as well as for the region.

Sekizkok also said that the bilateral trade went up by 14% last year to reach EUR 7 billion. “Our goal is EUR 10 billion, which is fully achievable in the coming years. The investments here are also increasing, and we are working on that,” she added.

Talking about the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkiye in early 2023, she noted the help the people and the Bulgarian government provided her country during the disaster. “I had never seen someone showing such strong compassion towards Turkiye. We are grateful for that,” the Ambassador said.