On January 16, 2018, Georgian citizens who frequently crossed the border for work gathered in Sarpi, at the Georgia–Turkey border, to protest a new rule introduced by Turkey on January 1, 2018. According to the regulation, after using a 90-day stay period, foreign nationals would not be allowed to re-enter Turkey for the next three months without a residence or work permit. Even a one-hour visit would count as a full day.

Residents of the Adjara and Guria regions were among those most affected, as many of them regularly crossed into Turkey—especially to the Artvin province—to work in shops, hotels, or seasonal agricultural jobs like tea and hazelnut harvesting. The new restrictions threatened their livelihoods, as many relied on this cross-border employment as their primary source of income.

Following the protest, on February 16, the Chairman of the Government of Adjara, Zurab Pataradze, met with the Governor of Turkey’s Artvin province. After the talks, Pataradze announced that Georgian citizens would be temporarily exempt from the new restrictions and could continue crossing the border under the previous rules.