Kapitan Andreewo-Kapıkule border crossing
The border crossing Kapitan Andreevo-Kapikule ( Bulgarian ГКПП "Капитан Андреево - Капъкуле" / GKPP "Kapitan Andreevo - Kapikule" , Граничен контролно-пропускателен пункт Капитан Андреево - Капъкуле ( Granite's Kontrolno Propuskatelen point "Kapitan Andreevo - Kapikule" ); Turkish : Kapikule sinir Kapısı ) is the most important in Turkish-European border traffic.
Geographical location
The border crossing is between Bulgaria and Turkey , next to the Bulgarian village of the same name Kapitan Andreewo , in the triangle of Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece , at the connection of the Turkish Edirne with the Bulgarian Swilengrad , on the left bank of the Maritsa river . The connection to Greece is through the Kapitan Petko Wojwoda-Ormenion border crossing .
Street
tasks
The road crossing is the busiest in the region. Most of the exchange of goods between Turkey , Iran and Syria on the one hand and the European Union on the other passes the transition, which is notorious because of its chronic overload.
There are four to five checks during the border crossing, which means two to eight hours of waiting time, depending on the volume of traffic. The controls usually take place outside the vehicles and in all weather conditions. The steps are:
- Passport inspection of the country of departure
- Passport control and stamping of the country of departure
- possibly control of luggage in the country of departure, buses are completely unloaded in Turkey
- Passport inspection of the country of entry
- Passport control and stamping of entry country
- possibly control of luggage in the country of entry, buses are completely unloaded in Turkey
There are numerous duty-free shops within the border sections.
If the Mariza floods, the border crossing may be closed.
history
During the communist rule in Bulgaria (1944–1990) the Kapitan Andreewo-Kapıkule border crossing was the only one between Bulgaria and Turkey, along with Malko Tarnowo . Especially in the summer months, when Turkish guest workers from Germany drove their cars to visit Turkey and back, the border crossing was hopelessly overloaded.
To relieve him of the burden, a third border crossing was set up in 2005 further east of Lessowo-Hamzabeyli . The facilities in Kapikule were completely renovated from November 2008 to June 2009 and the capacity quadrupled. 23 counters for people and 11 for goods traffic should relieve the border crossing. This makes the crossing the second largest border crossing in the world after the Tijuana-San Ysidro border crossing between Mexico and the USA.
In February 2012, the border crossing was closed after days of rain and snowfall in Bulgaria and after the surrounding area was flooded by the Maritsa River.
rail
The border crossing for the railway line İstanbul Sirkeci – Swilengrad has existed since 1971. The border station on the Turkish side is Kapıkule, the one on the Bulgarian Swilengrad . For some years now, there has usually only been one passenger train crossing the border here per day. The freight is significant.
Worth knowing
The border crossing is the starting point of Asian Highway 1 , which leads from here over 20,500 km to Tokyo .
Smuggling and corruption
In the public eye the border crossing came more recently by cases of human trafficking and smuggling of drugs . Above all, alcohol and European goods are also smuggled into Turkey from Bulgaria, as the prices in Turkey are high compared to Bulgaria.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wirtschaftsblatt-bg.com
- ↑ milliyet.com.tr: Details on the expansion (Turkish)
Coordinates: 41 ° 43 ′ 0 ″ N , 26 ° 21 ′ 25 ″ E