The International Transporters Association (UND) of Turkey held its 38^th General Assembly on the 28^th February and 1^st March 2015 in Istanbul. Minister for Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Lütfi Elvan attended the meetings as the guest of honour.

On the first day of the General Assembly, IKV Deputy Secretary General and Research Director Melih Özsöz gave a presentation titled “The visa-free Journey to Europe of Turkish Citizens: Visa Liberalisation, Readmission and Aftermath” at the panel which was titled “The Schengen Visa Problem of Drivers and Effects of Trade”. IKV Vice Chairman Prof. Dr. Halûk Kabaalioğlu shared his views regarding the visa which is imposed upon Turkish citizens by EU Member States.

Vice Chairman of ABKAD’s Board of Directors and EU Advisor Can Baydarol of the UND Board of Directors, Professor at Saint-Etienne University Dr. Vahit Polat along with a representative from the International Road Transportation Union (IRU) were the speakers at the panel where Schengen visas for drivers.

The panel was chaired by the President of the Executive Board of Directors of UND Fatih Şener. In his speech, President Şener stressed that Turkey needs a strong transportation and logistics sector within the framework of the 2023 goals. Furthermore, President Şener added that this particular sector has become an important component of Turkey’s competition policy. In this respect, he further reminded that the development of the transportation and logistics sector is among Turkey’s export oriented growth and development goals.

On the second of the General Assembly, Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Minister Lütfi Elvan gave a speech where he stressed that road transportation is a sector that concerns over 77 million people. Furthermore, Minister Elvan added that some practices applied by EU countries outside the scope of the regulations constitute additional obstacles for the Turkish road transportation sector.