UND Chief Executive Officer Alper Özel, ''There Is A Safe Truck Park Problem Not Only In The Balkans, But Also In Europe''

 "OUR DRIVERS TAKE MEASURES BUT THIS IS ALSO THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATES"

"KAZAKHSTAN AND KAPIKULE TROUBLES ARE GETTING SOLVED"

Stating that the problem of illegal immigrants is an issue that occupies the whole world, Özel stated that this issue affects Turkish trucks and their aim is to minimize this problem. Also making evaluations about the problem in Kazakhstan transition certificates, Özel stated that the issue has been resolved and that important steps have been taken towards the solution of the problems experienced at the Kapıkule Border Gate.

Özel stated that after the increase in illegal immigration cases in the Serbian region reflected on the association, they went to a cooperation with Turkish Embassy in Belgrade. Stating that they donated a carbon dioxide measuring device to the Serbian authorities and that Turkish trucks are checked with this device before crossing the Croatian side, Özel said that; “Turkish police started to work together with the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities on the borders of Serbia-Croatia, Serbia-Hungary and Serbia-Bulgaria in order to support our expatriates who came in summer during the time of our Belgrade Ambassador Tanju Bilgiç. We extended this cooperation to benefit the truck drivers. When the driver becomes suspicious, he calls the Turkish police and the seal of the vehicle is opened and checked. If there are migrants, they are dropped from the vehicle. Serbian Customs keeps a report closing the seal and allows the vehicle to pass to the Croatian side. If a migrant is caught in the vehicle when the Croatian side is crossed, the driver goes to court and pays a 5 thousand euro fine.”

"Turkish Police Will Be At The Serbian Border Gates Until the End of 2021"

Özel says that the term of office of police officers at the border gates in Serbia has been extended again until the end of 2021. Stating that Turkish police are currently on duty at the Bajakova Border Gate and that the rate is the main line, Özel said that; “Last year, 250 illegal immigrants were caught in Turkish trucks, that is, 250 people were prevented from escaping. We visited the Adasevci camp, the Turkish police say that when they are there, the number of smugglers on this line decreases. There was a gap for a few months when the assignment was over in the summer, and when the off-days were ended, they went back to work. There was a network there, they used to take immigrants across trucks for 2,500 euros. We talk to the drivers, they say they are afraid. Croatian officials also said, "We know that your drivers are 99 percent innocent, but our laws dictate this." they say. Otherwise, they would be imprisoned and not released. The drivers caught illegal immigrants in their vehicle appear before the judge and their penalties are determined.

"We Have Begun To See This Situation At Our Ipsala Border Gate"

Speaking about the places where they encountered the problem of illegal immigrants, Özel states that they also encountered this problem at the Ipsala Border Gate and that they met with the Ipsala District Governor for the solution of the problem. Özel indicated that; “We will donate a carbon dioxide measuring device to our İpsala Customs Directorate and we are waiting for the device to arrive. We will establish the same system in Ipsala. If they can implement it, the security officer will send a message like "If there is a suspicious situation in your vehicle, contact the following number". We also started to identify the problem of illegal immigrants at the Romanian-Hungarian Border Gate. We are discussing the issue with the Budapest Embassy. To see the situation on the Romanian border, we would go to Budapest and hold a meeting with the Hungarian border officials; however, we cannot go due to pandemic conditions. Entries and exits are very troublesome. But our Budapest Embassy arranged a meeting with the Hungarian officials. "

"Other Trucks Using That Line Are Also Affected"

Stating that not only Turkish drivers but also Serbian and Bulgarian drivers complain about the problem of illegal immigrants, Özel said that; “Those who use that line are not only Turkish drivers. Illegal immigrants are also found in Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia trucks. We are impressed because it is a Turkish vehicle and we want it not to be found in any Turkish truck. However, similarly, other trucks using that line are also affected by this situation. "

"We Try to Raise Awareness"

Mentioning that Turkish trucks are also affected by the problem of illegal immigrants in the UK, Özel states that they visited the Home Office in England for this. Özel said that; “During our visit, they translated and shared their informative brochures and videos on the prevention of illegal immigration problem with us. We also made announcements for these, and we tried to raise awareness in this way. They also have registration mechanisms. They can impose more mitigating penalties when illegal immigrants appear in the truck of the company that promises to fulfill the requirements of the Home Office. We tried to encourage companies to do this. We also thought of signing a joint protocol with the Home Office on illegal immigration. A friend of us was going to go to England to get this education and we would give the education. However, when the pandemic intervened, many studies were disrupted.”

"No Safe Truck Parks"

Emphasizing that drivers have taken measures regarding the problem of illegal immigrants, but this is also the responsibility of the states, Özel drawn attention to the lack of safe truck parks in this regard and said that; “When we went to the Balkan region, we saw drivers who had to park in pitch-dark places with no lighting. We have drivers who cannot move due to the tachograph and driving restrictions, and have to stop. There is a safe truck parking problem not only in the Balkans, but also in Europe. There are drivers who say, "There were times when I kept watch in the vehicle without sleeping," so that illegal immigrants would not get on. Our drivers are conscious, know what to do and do their controls.”

"Our Ipsala District Governor Interceded And The Number of Patrols Increased"

Özel states that in order to solve this problem, the number of police patrols should increase and safe truck parks should be established on the routes that migrants use. Explaining that they wanted more patrols on the way to customs at the İpsala border gate, Özel said: “Our İpsala District Governor interceded and the number of patrols increased. We also made some suggestions such as making more lighting. "

We are discussing the issue with UND Chief Executive Officer Alper Özel, after the Kazakhstan certificate issue is brought to the agenda and queues are seen at the borders. Özel stated that as a result of some initiatives, the Kazakhstan certificate problem and the waiting problem at the Kapıkule and Hamzabeyli Border Gates have been resolved.

Stating that the Iran-Turkmenistan line is mostly used when going to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan under normal conditions, Özel states that Turkmenistan land border gates have been closed since March 2020. Stating that because the border gate was closed, those who used that line had to use Georgia, Kazakhstan and Russia, which resulted in the inadequacy of the existing Kazakhstan transit certificates; Özel said that; “Our Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Commerce worked hard to open the Turkmenistan border gates last year. Turkmenistan did not agree to open border gates. Transit certificates were requested from Kazakhstan, 8 thousand additional Kazakhstan transit certificates were given on the condition that Caspian Port is used. We had to accept it compulsorily under the conditions of the pandemic. We should not have accepted the certificates, but at that time, exports were supposed to come out. Transports were made from Georgia-Azarbeycan Alat Port to Kazakhstan Kurık Port, which brought additional costs.

"4 Thousand Transit Certificates Have Ended After 2 Months As Turkmenistan Gate Is Closed And The Exports Of Central Asia To Uzbekistan Increased"

Stating that additional certificates were required for transportation under normal conditions, Özel stated that 2,500 unconditional transit certificates were received and used last year; 4,000 certificates were received at the beginning of 2021 but 4,000 certificates were expired after 2 months because the Turkmenistan gate was closed and Central Asian exports increased to Uzbekistan. Özel; “The Ministry of Transport said, "Let's hold a KNC meeting in February," but the Kazakhstan side wanted it to be in May. Our ministry also requested additional certificates until May. We applied to the Turkic Council, a council where Turkic-speaking countries come together. Beforehand, the Minister of Transport personally wrote. Kazakhstan Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister arrived in Turkey. In the meetings held by the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first agenda item was the transit pass certificate. Our Minister of Transport held a video conference with the Minister of Kazakhstan and it was announced that 3 thousand certificates would be given.”

"These 3 Thousand Certificates Will Not Be Enough Because The Turkmenistan Border Gate Is Closed"

Expressing that 3 thousand documents will not be enough because the border gate of Turkmenistan is closed, Özel said that; “There is an agreement with the Kazakh side to make a KNC in May. Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Vice President came to Turkey 10 days ago. The first agenda was the opening of these border gates. According to the latest information, a video conference will be held between Turkmenistan Highways Agency and our association. We will see what will be proposed as a result of this meeting. "

THE KAPIKULE BORDER GATE PROBLEM

"We Made Analyzes with the Bulgarian Association at the Border Gates"

Özel stated that important developments regarding a solution were also recorded at Kapıkule Border Gate, where the drivers had great difficulties and long queues were formed. Özel states that Kapıkule export output rose to one thousand 329 and Hamzabeyli export output to 644, and these figures were 900 in Kapıkule and 400-450 in Hamzabeyli last year. Özel said that; “Our Ministry of Commerce has worked hard in the past. We also visited all border gates and analyzed with the Bulgarian Association at the border gates to see what was missing. The number of personnel required to be recruited was reported, and we shared them with Bulgaria. Bulgaria has made some promises, and we see that they are gradually being fulfilled.”

"If Kapıkule Border Gate Can be at Thousand 800 band and Hamzabeyli Can be At a Minumum of One Thousand Band, There Will Be No Queues Left”

Özel stated that they have started some works to reduce truck queues at the border gate of Bulgaria. Mentioning that there are two platforms measuring carbon dioxide at the border gate, Özel stated that there is the operation only in one of these platforms and this increases the waiting period and said that; “300-350 refrigerated vehicles pass through Kapıkule per day. We said, "Open a third platform, let the refrigerated vehicle pass from there". So these vehicles won't be stuck there. The tender has been concluded in this regard, and our exit to Kapıkule increases from 300 to 600. As the first priority, we stated that there is a shortage of personnel on the Bulgarian side. The number of staff should be 23-30 people more. There are 10 platforms of the Bulgarian side in Kapıkule, 5-6 of them are working. We said 'run them all'. Hamzabeyli also had two scales in it, a scale was working. There are 4 platforms behind their scales, they put scales on these 4 platforms. If Kapıkule can be at one thousand 600-thousand 800 band and Hamzabeyli can be at a minimum of one thousand, there will be no queues left on the total daily band of 2 thousand 800 ”.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

• UND explained on March 23 that, in cases such as illegal immigrant entering the vehicle semi-trailer, rope or canvas cut / tear and breaking / damage to the customs seal, which are detected at the customs gates at the entrance to Croatia, there will be the right to appeal fines imposed on vehicle drivers in accordance with the relevant articles of the Croatian Customs Law

• UND explained on March 31 that the number of export vehicle crossings made using Turkey-Bulgaria border gates reached an average of 2,000 vehicle crossings per day, from the level of 1,500 and that there are no vehicles waiting to exit at Kapıkule and Hamzabeyli Border Gates

• The Ministry of Transport announced on April 2 that 3,000 Kazakhstan transit certificates have reached our country.

Descriptions;

Home Office: UK Home Office. Its Minister in Charge is Priti Patel.

Turkic Council: The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking Countries (Turkic Council) was established in 2009 as an international organization with the aim of encouraging comprehensive cooperation among Turkic speaking countries. The founding members of the Turkish Council of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.