Turkey’s interior minister says Iran is not allowing its citizens to cross the border, leading to a sharp drop in entries since the war began.

ISTANBUL: Iran is restricting its own citizens from crossing into Turkey, according to Turkey’s interior minister. Mustafa Ciftci said the number of Iranians entering Turkey has fallen by about a third since the start of the war.

“Since the start of the war, our citizens have been able to cross into Iran without restriction, however Iran has imposed restrictions on its own citizens and is not letting them cross to our side,” Ciftci told journalists. He did not specify when these exit restrictions began.

AFP correspondents at the Kapikoy border crossing noted that initially, some Iranians could still cross, though they appeared few in number. Ciftci stated there has been a fall of a quarter or almost a third in Iranian entries.

Conversely, there has been an increase in the number of Iranian citizens crossing from Turkey back into Iran. The minister did not provide specific figures for these entries and exits.

The two countries share a 500-kilometre frontier with three official crossings. On March 2, both sides mutually agreed to suspend day-trip crossings.

“We have been closely monitoring our border crossings… and observing the entries and exits since the start of the war,” Ciftci said. He insisted there were “no problems at the moment” at the border.

Turkey has not released updated border crossing figures since March 4. At that time, Ciftci said around 2,000 people were crossing each way.

Iran’s neighbours have long feared an attack could destabilise the region and trigger a refugee influx. Despite nearly three weeks of US-Israeli air strikes, such a wave has not yet materialised.

Turkey currently hosts more than 74,000 Iranians with residence permits and approximately 5,000 refugees.

 The Sun Malaysia