The Russian invasion of Ukraine and European Union restrictions on trucks from Russia and Belarus have tipped Turkey’s international transportation industry into a crisis with increasing costs and international freight trucks forming huge queues at Turkey’s border crossings. The kilometers-long lines at the three border crossings linking Turkey and Georgia have turned into an ordeal for truck drivers. 

At the Sarp border crossing in Turkey’s northeastern town of Hopa over 500 trucks have formed a queue of at least 25 kilometers (15.5 miles). The line of trucks stretches 10-20 kilometers (6-12 miles) at another crossing in the eastern Turkish town of Ardahan. Officials and industry representatives’ figures on the number of trucks able to cross the border daily is conflicting. While officials said some 800 trucks are crossing the Sarp pass daily, according to Turkey’s International Transporters Association (UND), no more than 500 trucks passed through the crossing in the first three weeks of April. 

Other border crossings in the Caucasus region have also been fraught with delays. Drivers leaving Russia have been reportedly enduring delays up to 12-15 days to cross into Azerbaijan or Georgia with only 200 trucks passing through the crossings daily. The security concerns stand as the major reason for the delays on Russia's end. The situation at the Verkhniy Lars crossing linking Georgia and Russia is said to be particularly grim as ongoing maintenance work at the crossing and harsh weather conditions exacerbate the delays.  Before the war, trucks were using Ukrainian territory to reach Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.

Abdullah Ozer, board member of the UND, warns that the crisis is worsening as the impact of the Western sanctions against Russia pitches in gradually. “We are heading toward a major dead end,” Ozer told Al-Monitor.