DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Turkey’s closure of its only border crossing with Iraq amid a spike in coronavirus cases in its southern neighbor has disabled a major trade route, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people, from street vendors at the crossing to big industries on the other side of the country.
The Habur crossing, which opens into Iraqi Kurdistan, was sealed off on March 1, a week after Turkey closed its border with its eastern neighbor Iran, the epicenter of the contagion in the Middle East.