site.btaTurkish President Erdogan Commits to More Active Border Protection, Says Interior Minister Demerdzhiev

After being part of President Rumen Radev's delegation to Istanbul, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said in a NOVA TV interview on Sunday that Turkish President Recep Erodagan has made a commitment that the Turkish border guards will close their border to migrants headed to Bulgaria. 

Dealing with migrant pressure and border management was discussed in detail during the meetings in Istanbul, Demerdzhiev said, noting that Bulgaria guards a large part of the external land border of the European Union and the largest checkpoint in Europe. President Erdogan gave instructions to the Turkish Interior Minister that the border should be closed,  which means that the pressure would be taken on by the Turkish units, Demerdzhiev stressed.

The Bulgarian Interior Minister explained that until now almost all the migrant pressure has been stopped by the Bulgarian side of the border and that from now on the Turkish side will be even more active. They will supply forces, the Turkish gendarmerie will patrol to prevent large groups of migrants from crossing the border, Demerdzhiev said.

Talks were also held on bilateral work regarding the modernization of the three border points between Bulgaria and Turkiye, Kapitan Andreevo, Lesovo and Malko Tarnovo. Railway transport from Edirne to Yambol via the Lesovo border checkpoint is envisaged, the Minister also said. There were also ideas for the development of the motorway section.

Demerdzhiev also commented on a much-discussed in Western media incident in which Bulgarian border police allegedly shot and injured an immigrant. The incident was investigated by a Bulgarian-Turkish mixed commission, which came to the conclusion that there was no shot from Bulgarian territory, Demerdzhiev stressed.  These investigations were conducted a long time ago, they came out just days before the decision of the Council of the European Union on Bulgaria's accession to  Schengen, the Minister noted.

An investigation into the case of a murdered border police officer near Elhovo is still ongoing. Turkiye is checking if there is a smuggling channel behind the case, but without concrete evidence all talk on the subject will be speculation, Demerdzhiev also said.

Demerdzhiev also commented on the decision of the Netherlands and Austria to vote against Bulgaria's Schengen membership. "With this decision, Europe humiliated itself because it showed that it is not ready to implement its own rules. The Netherlands cannot expect a report on a mechanism that was abandoned several years ago. We have no way of fulfilling such a requirement, because such are the rules of the European Union," he explained.

When asked if he had received an invitation from prime minister designate Nikolay Gabrovski to participate in his government, Demerdzhiev answered: "I have not received such an invitation, but I would not accept."