Ankara to Lift Ban Today on Trains With Ethnic Turks From Bulgaria
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ANKARA, Turkey — The Turkish government today will lift a ban on European trains entering from Bulgaria that it imposed to stem the influx of ethnic Turks, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
“Assuming that Bulgaria will no longer board any of its citizens without entry visas, the train will be allowed to enter Turkey from Sept. 3,” ministry spokesman Murat Sungar said.
Turkey reimposed entry visa requirements for Bulgarian citizens on Aug. 22 and stopped the Munich-Istanbul train crossing the border three days later.
“We can always resume the ban on the train if Bulgaria does not comply,” Sungar said.
Over 310,000 ethnic Turks from Bulgaria have entered Turkey since June when Ankara waived visa requirements for ethnic refugees fleeing what they see as forced Bulgarian assimilation.
Turkey said it had insisted on visas in a bid to force Bulgaria to sign an emigration accord to protect the rights of refugees and those ethnic Turks remaining in Bulgaria.
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