Record-breaking traffic at Türkiye-Bulgaria border crossing in 2024

Sofia: The Kapikule border crossing in Edirne – separating Türkiye and Bulgaria – has set a record with 5,503 vehicles and 24,449 passengers exiting Türkiye in a single day, Edirne Governor Yunus Sezer announced Sunday.

This achievement marks the highest traffic recorded at the border for the year.

Turkish Governor Sezer visited Kapikule, where he engaged with expatriates returning to their home countries after their annual vacations, wishing them safe travels.

He highlighted the extensive efforts by all relevant institutions to ensure a smooth entry and exit process for travelers.

Sezer noted a 5% increase in road travel by expatriates compared to previous years. He acknowledged that while there were occasional queues because of the high traffic volume and limited capacity in Bulgaria and Greece, the waiting times have significantly decreased compared to past years, thanking to the preventive measures implemented.

“We have doubled the number of booths at Kapıkule from 12 to 24 and have increased capacity at Hamzabeyli Border Gate as well,” Governor Sezer stated.

Before the season began, we took measures to enhance Hamzabeyli’s capacity to match that of Kapıkule, allowing it to handle a similar volume of passengers and vehicles.

The Edirne Governor emphasized the efforts to improve traveler comfort during the wait times. “We have set up mobile catering vehicles and restrooms, particularly at Pazarkule, where rest facilities along the route are insufficient,” he added.

Sezer indicated that the high traffic of expatriates exiting Türkiye would continue into the first week of September.

Between June 22 and August 23, 937,313 vehicles crossed through four border gates, with a total of 3,814,544 expatriates entering and exiting Türkiye during this period.

On July 14, all border gates saw a record-breaking 15,553 vehicles and 57,000 passengers entering Türkiye in a single day.

“On August 22, Kapikule recorded the highest vehicle and passenger exits of the year, with 5,503 vehicles and 24,449 passengers. Despite the increased traffic, our measures have kept average wait times close to one hour on most days, with longer waits of three hours or more occurring mainly on Thursdays and Fridays over the past two weeks,” Sezer remarked.