Funded by Turkish State Railways and the public broadcaster TRT, the Balkan Express was welcomed back to Istanbul on August 20th by Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, who hailed its "importance" for "promoting the region's history".
Balkan Ekspres, koji su finansirali Turska državna železnica i javni emiter TRT, vratio se u Istanbul 20. avgusta, gde ga je dočekao ministar saobraćaja Binali Jildirim, koji je pozdravio njegov "značaj" na polju "promovisanja istorije regiona".