Turkiye’s trade minister says day-trip crossings halted at Iranian border

ISTANBUL: ISTANBUL: Turkiye and Iran have mutually suspended day-trip crossings at their border, Turkiye’s trade minister said Monday as Israeli-US strikes continued to pound the Islamic Republic.
“Same-day passenger crossings at all three customs gates have been mutually suspended,” Trade Minister Omer Bolat wrote on X.
But he insisted there was “no extraordinary situation” at the three crossings along their shared 500-kilometer (300-mile) frontier.
“Iran is allowing its own citizens to enter their country via Turkiye... we are also allowing our own citizens and third-country nationals to enter our country from Iran,” he said.
Despite the strikes, which began on Saturday morning, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said later that day that Turkiye had not experienced any problems “in terms of border security.”
Iran’s neighbors have long feared that a new round of strikes on the country could destabilize the entire region, unleashing a possible influx of refugees.
Also Saturday, Turkiye’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci spoke with his Azerbaijani and Iraqi counterparts to discuss “strengthening cooperation.” They also share a border with Iran.
Turkiye currently hosts more than 74,000 Iranians with residence permits and some 5,000 refugees.