Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Border police officer shot dead near Golyam Dervent village close to the border with Turkey

Caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev inspects the region in the vicinity of the Bulgaria-Turkey border
Photo: BGNES

A border police officer was shot dead while patrolling the border with Turkey in the region of Golyam Dervent village in the vicinity of the Lesovo-Hamzabeyli border checkpoint.

The incident took place at around 8.35 on Monday night. The patrol included a border police officer and an army officer. After the shooting the army officer was able to retreat from the wooded area where the incident took place. Interior Ministry officials told the BNR that a meeting with the Turkish authorities has taken place on the border line to discuss the incident, as the perpetrator is assumed to have been on Turkish territory.

“We have been seeing quite a lot of migrants in Golyam Dervent in recent months, the flow has increased, that is why the patrol teams in the area have been reinforced,” the village mayor Ivan Fransuzov explained. Interior Minister innthe caretaker cabinet Ivan Demerdzhiev has cancelled the official celebrations of the day of the national police marked on St. Archangel Michael’s day, 8 November.

Valentin Popov, spokesperson for the police trade union federation called for a sufficient number of staff with specific training to start work in the endangered regions along the border, and for an end to the practice of seconding staff from the country’s interior to work at the border. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Vanya Grashkina-Mincheva

There is an increase in requests for recognition of student diplomas obtained abroad

Applications for recognition of higher education obtained abroad have doubled. This was announced by Vanya Grashkina-Mincheva, executive director of the National Center for Information and Documentation before a meeting of the parliamentary education..

published on 10/28/25 11:06 AM

President Rumen Radev meets with the Bulgarian community in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Protecting the rights and caring for Bulgarian communities abroad are fundamental to Bulgarian foreign policy, said Bulgarian President Rumen Radev at a meeting with the Bulgarian community in Riyadh . He answered the questions of Bulgarians working and..

published on 10/28/25 10:41 AM

Strong earthquake in western Turkey felt in southern Bulgaria

An earthquake with a 6.1 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Western Turkey at 22.48 hours last night. There were over 40 aftershocks after the earthquake. The epicenter was near the city of Sundargah in the Balıkesir province. In addition to..

published on 10/28/25 9:42 AM