Several Pakistani citizens were stranded at the Istanbul airport in Turkey following COVID-19 restrictions in place since yesterday.
As per Turkey's new coronavirus safety precautions, passengers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka will be quarantined for 14 days at locations decided by the country's government, reported Geo News.
As a result, Pakistanis who initiated travel to Turkey a day before the coronavirus restrictions were announced, were left stranded at the airport. The Foreign Office (FO) confirmed that it is in touch with the citizens at the airport.
An FO spokesperson informed that Pakistan Embassy in Ankara and Consul General in Istanbul were in contact with the Pakistanis. He also said that Turkish authorities have decided to waive the new coronavirus regulations for Pakistanis who travelled to Turkey on June 1.
The FO spokesperson said a team of the Pakistani consulate general was present at the Istanbul Airport to facilitate the Pakistanis there, Geo News reported.
In a bid to curb the COVID-19 spread, Turkey has made mandatory 14 days of institutional quarantine for passengers from eight countries including India.
Passengers from other countries will not need to submit a negative PCR test result and not be quarantined if they have been vaccinated at least 14 days before the entrance to Turkey and/or have had the disease and recovered within the last six months.
Turkey has confirmed 7,112 new COVID-19 cases, including 602 symptomatic patients, as the total infections in the country reached 5,256,516. The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 129 to 47,656, while the total recoveries climbed to 5,124,081 after 9,457 more recovered in the last 24 hours, according to the Turkish Health Ministry.
( With inputs from ANI )
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