Turkey reopens Habur crossing with Iraq; allows only 1,250 vehicles daily
Turkey on Tuesday partially reopened its Habur border crossing after a three-week closure, saying that only 1,250 vehicles would be allowed to cross each day. “Only 500 vehicles will be allowed to drive over the border from Turkey to Iraq and 750 vehicles will be permitted to enter Turkey from Iraq,” the Today’s Zaman website quoted […]Turkey on Tuesday partially reopened its Habur border crossing after a three-week closure, saying that only 1,250 vehicles would be allowed to cross each day. “Only 500 vehicles will be allowed to drive over the border from Turkey to Iraq and 750 vehicles will be permitted to enter Turkey from Iraq,” the Today’s Zaman website quoted customs and trade minister Bulent Tufenkci as saying.
The ordinarily busy crossing was closed on December 14 by Turkish authorities, following a curfew in nearby Kurdish towns in Turkey, as Ankara continued an ongoing crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The Habur crossing is located some 18 kilometers south of the Silopi district in Sırnak province, where severe clashes continue between security forces and the outlawed PKK.
