Edirne Governor H. Kürşat Kırbıyık attended the signing ceremony of a new railway line project to be opened to Europe via Bulgaria and Romania, following the opening of the line for the passage of refrigerated TIR vehicles between Kapıkule and Kapitan Andreovo border gates, which are the face of Turkey opening to Europe.
On behalf of Türkiye, to the ceremony held for the opening; Edirne Governor H. Kürşat Kırbıyık, Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Sofia Aylin Eightkök, Edirne Deputy Fatma Aksal, Trakya University Rector Erhan Tabakoğlu, Deputy Governor Samet Öztürk, Thrace Regional Director of Customs and Foreign Trade Nihat Kınık and officials attended, while Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Aleksiev, Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Ankara Angel Çolakov, Private Secretary of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy Diliana Doichinova, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Krasimir Papukchiyski, Head of the Customs Agency Pavel Gerenski, Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Edirne Borislav Dimitov and other high-level officials. .
After the opening of the newly built line for the passage of refrigerated TIR vehicles at the Kapitan Andreovo border gate of Bulgaria, the first TIR vehicle crossed the new line, symbolically. With the commissioning of the new line, the waiting time at customs for TIR vehicles carrying food and food to European countries will be shortened.
After the opening, the signing ceremony of a new railway line project to be opened to Europe via Bulgaria and Romania was held. On behalf of Turkey, Turkey's Ambassador to Sofia Aylin Eightkök and on behalf of Bulgaria Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Aleksiev signed the project.
Making a speech at the signing ceremony, Edirne Governor H. Kürşat Kırbıyık said, “I would like to express my happiness for this beautiful step that will further increase the friendship between Turkey and Bulgaria and increase the trade volume. As stated by the Honorable Ministers and our Ambassador, the trade volume at Kapıkule and Kapitan Andreovo border gates is increasing. As of today, the volume of our doors, which are among the few doors in Europe and the world, is increasing day by day. At this point, we are talking about a regularly increasing volume every year. Therefore, the step taken today is a very important step. Another dimension of the issue is the environmental dimension. On the one hand, while increasing the trade volume on the railway line, it will be a very important step towards reducing carbon emissions. In addition to freight transport, another dimension of these gates is passenger transport. In the coming days, we will experience a summer period when Turkish citizens living in Europe come to their hometowns. In the past period, the Bulgarian authorities have helped us a lot in this regard, I would like to thank them very much. We hope that we will have a good season with mutual cooperation this year. I would like to thank everyone who contributed, especially our Presidents, who decided to open this agreement and this line.”