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The Akcakale Land Border Gate, one of Türkiye's key crossing points into northern Syria, is resuming full civilian operations for the first time in over a decade.
The Sanliurfa Governorship said passport-based entry and exit procedures would take effect on May 12, following a directive from the Interior Ministry.
The gate was closed to civilian and commercial traffic in 2014 as Syria's civil war intensified. Limited operations resumed in 2019, restricted to humanitarian aid deliveries, commercial cargo, and authorized government personnel.
The governorship said a new chapter was opened after the Tel Abyad Customs Directorate was transferred to the Syrian administration on Jan. 22, 2026, accelerating what officials described as a normalization process in the region.
Under the new arrangement, three categories of travelers may use the Akcakale gate with a valid passport: Turkish citizens, Syrian nationals holding dual citizenship, and Syrian nationals residing in Türkiye under a valid residence permit or a work permit that substitutes for one.
Syrian nationals currently registered under Türkiye's temporary protection status, a legal framework introduced during the height of the refugee crisis that grants humanitarian protections without full refugee status, fall outside the passport crossing scheme.
Their requests for commercial, condolence, or other travel will continue to be assessed individually through the Humanitarian Aid and Coordination Center operating under the Sanliurfa Governorship.
The Akcakale crossing sits opposite the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, in an area that has changed hands multiple times during the Syrian war and its aftermath. The border zone became a flashpoint in 2015 when Daesh briefly seized Tel Abyad.
Türkiye hosts the world's largest Syrian refugee population, with more than three million registered Syrians, many of them under the temporary protection status that now shapes who may use the newly reopened gate.
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