site.btaTurkish Ambassador to Sofia: The State Should Have Full Control of Kapitan Andreevo Checkpoint

The state should have full control of the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on the border with Turkey, Turkish Ambassador to Bulgaria Aylin Sekizkok says in an interview featured in 24 Chasa daily’s Monday edition. Kapikule-Kapitan Andreevo is Turkey’s gateway to Europe through which it exports goods worth EUR 200 billion a year, which defines the importance of this border crossing. A difficult winter is expected, but Turkey’s capacity for transiting natural gas will be of help to Bulgaria, she added.

Checkpoints are places where state sovereignty and control, the power of the state and the law are most visible. The state must control its borders against any attempt at unauthorised infiltration and, at the same time, ensure the safe and rapid passage of people and goods, and Captain Andreevo-Kapikule in particular is even more special because it is one of the largest border crossings in the world, in addition to being the largest in Europe.

Ambassador Sekizkok says her country was surprised at the closure of the private phyto-sanitary control lab at Kapitan Andreevo.

A political scandal erupted recently after a deputy agriculture minister claimed that a bribe had been offered to leave be a private company, that was hired to check truckloads of fruits and vegetables entering Bulgaria through Kapitan Andreevo for pesticides and other plant protection products, after which the contract with the company was terminated. The contractor was accused of covering up imports that did not meet the standards and failing to report to the Exchequer its income from fees charged for its services. The Government claimed that for over ten years the public purse was defrauded of some BGN 1 billion.

The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) then stepped in and undertook all stages of phyto-sanitary and veterinary control on goods imported from third countries at the border with Turkey.

"Turkey does not have a problem with this [removal of the private lab]. It doesn't matter to us whether this lab is private or public. It is even better for us if it is state-owned, therefore we supported the steps of the Bulgarian state and our support continues," says the Ambassador in the interview. 

She explains that in the days following the change, the chaos at the border had reached such proportions that it took 170 hours to process a single truck on the Bulgarian side of the border. "We trusted the Bulgarian authorities to restore control, and Turkish hauliers and exporters were patient, waiting for action to be taken. We lost about a month. In this regard, I would like to thank and underline that today a very good level of traffic has been reached at the border crossing," she adds.

Ambassador Sekizkok, however, rejects claims that the import of goods into Europe through this checkpoint has not so far been controlled in terms of the level of pesticides. "This is speculation which I can deny thanks to our control system. Compared to last year, there has been no difference in the number of foods found to have elevated levels of pesticides," she says.

Also, Ambassador Sekizkok says that Turkish hauliers, exporters and companies have been complaining about the checkpoint’s operation for years, including long waiting hours and cases of corruption. "The public is aware of this. We would be happy if there were Bulgarian state control at this border crossing to prevent any unauthorised activities. As far as specific evidence is concerned, the Bulgarian authorities have to provide it themselves, internal investigations can establish who is connected and responsible for the bribery and corruption cases and all other violations of the law," she says.

The Turkish Ambassador also speaks about a very serious increase of Afghan refugees in Turkey. "We can say that the wave of illegal migration continues and is growing. As far as the Bulgarian-Turkish border is concerned, there is a principled position on our side to protect this border from migrant pressure. Indeed, all along the border, the Turkish authorities are carrying out operations and actions to protect against illegal crossings. Last year, 4,000 migrants were apprehended on Turkish territory just before crossing the border with Bulgaria. While in the first six months of this year, 2,300 have already been intercepted. A further 2,600 have been stopped before crossing the border. That is to say, the pressure on the Turkish authorities to protect our common border is growing all the time. And we are really doing our best. We are also witnessing that migrants caught inside Bulgaria are being pushed back to Turkish territory," says Sekizkok.