Stranded Lebanese trucks in Turkey released amidst calls for the reopening of Syrian-Jordanian borders

The announcement by the Turkish Embassy in Lebanon to issue visas for Syrian drivers working on Lebanese trucks stranded on its borders has eased the tension the Lebanese productive sectors and the transportation unions have been living in the wake of the ‘compulsory visa’ order by Ankara last January 8. Some 200 Lebanese trucks loaded on a ship have been cut off at Marsin Port while on their way to Zacho and Erbil in Iraq coming from the northern harbor of Tripoli, and that is following contacts initiated by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry with competent departments in both Iraq and Turkey to resolve the problem.

Commenting on the subject, the chief of the Beqaa farmers association, Ibrahim Tarshishi, appealed to the Lebanese government to coordinate with Jordan for the reopening the Daraa crossing in Syria. “We miss the old days of normal road transport” Tarshishi lamented, while questioning the fairness of the present situation where Lebanese trucks are forced to cross all the way through Turkey, in order to reach Iraq and to deliver export products. He also stigmatized the dire general situation presently prevailing in the Arab region in the absence of Arab solidarity, and whereby very harsh obstacles were raised in front of free Arab trade circulation. (As Safir, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, February 1 & 2, 2016)