Long queues formed on Friday at the border between Turkey and the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan after Turkish authorities announced earlier in the day a sharp increase in fees for the registration of mobile phones bought aboard.
Turkish citizens flocked to the border to briefly exit the country and reenter to register their mobile phones before midnight, when the fee will more than triple, from the current 6,000 lira (approx. $230) to 20,000 lira ($768).
Mobile phones in Turkey are much more expensive than aboard because of a special consumption tax. The rate of tax for phones sold at a price between 1,500 and 3,000 lira is 40,%, and 50% for those sold at a higher price.
Hundreds of people arrived on Friday in Turkey’s border city of Igdir, most of them coming from the eastern provinces of Agri, Ardahan, Erzincan, Erzurum and Kars. After crossing to the other side and quickly returning to register their foreign phones, they formed queues at the Dilucu border crossing.
Some suffered health conditions due to the long wait and received instant treatment.
Source: Gerçek News
