Turkey, Bulgaria settle border dispute over truck transit permits

Turkey and Bulgaria have settled a border dispute over truck transit after Bulgaria agreed to issue more permits for Turkish trucks, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported Thursday. The Kapikule border crossing, closed for almost two weeks as a result of the dispute, has now reopen, Anatolia quoted Turkish Transport Minister Lutfi Elvan as saying late Wednesday. The dispute between the neighbors started at the beginning of the year after Bulgaria gave only 5,000 out of 125,000 transit passes Ankara had applied for. Bulgaria has now agreed to issue 100,000 permits for Turkish trucks. Turkey closed its border to Bulgarian trucks on Jan. 31, while Bulgaria responded in kind, banning Turkish trucks from entering Bulgaria a day later. The issue will be discussed further at a ministerial-level meeting in the Turkish coastal city of Istanbul on Feb. 17, Anatolia quoted Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Anton Ginev as saying. The two countries have had similar problems in October when Turkey closed its border to Bulgaria following a dispute over border permits.