Turkish Drivers Unable To Move From Iraq

SILOPI - Nearly fifty Turkish lorry drivers can't move from Iraq as the Saddam administration closed the Fayda Border Gate to northern Iraq.
Speaking to the A.A correspondent on Thursday, Cizre Drivers' Association Chairman Hasim Elci said that nearly fifty Turkish lorry drivers were stranded in Iraq after the Saddam Hussein's administration had banned the crossings to northern Iraq two nights ago.
''According to the information we got, those Turkish drivers were not permitted to cross the border gate, and they were waiting there,'' he added.
Meanwhile, Mehmet Emin Celik, a Turkish lorry driver, said that he had brought iron from Turkey to Iraq five days ago, and returned to Turkey late on Tuesday after crossing the Fayda Border Gate.
''The lorries behind me were not allowed to pass the border gate. More than thirty, maybe more Turkish drivers are still there. What I saw in northern Iraq that there was a number of people migrating especially towards Iran,'' he said.
(MS-AÖ) 20.03.2003