Turkey repatriates 755 nationals due to COVID-19

ANKARA/YALOVA/BURSA/MARDIN

Turkey brought back a total of 755 of its nationals from countries worldwide as of April 27 as part of ongoing repatriation efforts for Ramadan amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Some 162 Turkish nationals returning from Qatar on a special Turkish Airlines flight arrived at Esenboğa Airport in the capital Ankara while 292 citizens were taken to Izmir province.

After health checks, the arrivals in Ankara were sent to Çankırı province and those in Izmir were sent to Manisa province for quarantine.

A total of 39 citizens from Iran landed in Mardin province.

Following mandatory health checks, they were taken to dorms to be quarantined for two weeks.

Meanwhile, 10 Turkish citizens landed in Istanbul from Ukraine and were sent to Yalova province for quarantine.

In addition, 252 Turkish citizens who were brought back from Saudi Arabia landed in Istanbul.

They were taken to Bursa province after health checks.

Some 151 Turkish citizens who were evacuated from Mali and Niger as part of measures against the novel coronavirus safely reached the country on April 28, sources said.

They arrived in Erzurum province on special Turkish Airlines flights.

Following mandatory health checks, they were sent to student dormitories in Erzurum to be quarantined for 14 days.

Adem Atılgan, one of the passengers, told Anadolu Agency they were very happy to be back in Turkey.