Virus on wane, tourists want to come back to Turkey: FM

ANKARA- Anadolu Agency

Germans and Russians want to come back to visit Turkey, in part thanks to its skillful handling of the coronavirus pandemic, now on the wane, Turkey's foreign minister said on May 23. 

Appearing on television in Antalya, Turkey’s popular Mediterranean resort, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said the country is working towards restarting tourism.

"Our German and Russian friends want to visit our country. Compared to other countries in terms of the pandemic, Turkey stands out in its case numbers. Tourists want to come for that reason,” he said.

“We need to work hard to bring them here, people should be able to come to Turkey for holidays again."

Adding that the country is looking to restart international flights, Çavuşoğlu said: "We had meetings with Germany, France, and the U.K. about tourism.

I spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov twice. We know that Russian tourists want to come to our country.”

Stressing that Turkey is also working hard to improve its agriculture sector, he said: "We had no problems in terms of food security, we continued our exports."

Regarding the migrants near Greece’s border, Çavuşoğlu said: "Due to the pandemic, the movement of the migrants has slowed down. But they will want to go after the outbreak is over, and I’m not saying this as a threat."