Turkey, taking into account the development of the epidemic situation in the country, will be ready to restore air flights with Russia by June 1, Turkish Ambassador to Russia Mehmet Samsar told TASS on Tuesday.
He noted that the country had set a goal through vaccination and quarantine measures "to normalize the number of cases of COVID-19 infections and the epidemic situation in Turkey for the next summer season in a short time." "We have already begun to receive positive signals about this. The number of cases, which was 61,400 as of April 15, has dropped to 24,733 as of May 3 due to the strict measures taken. This number is expected to decrease in the coming weeks. We are currently in contact with the relevant Russian authorities at all levels to resume flights on June 1 and to welcome our Russian friends in the safest conditions during the summer season," the ambassador said.
Meeting on tourism security
Turkey also invited the Russian side to hold a meeting of the Russian-Turkish expert subgroup on tourism security in Antalya in the second half of May to demonstrate the measures taken by Ankara.
"Last week we sent our official invitation to the meeting of the Turkish-Russian working subgroup on tourism security, which was scheduled for April but was postponed, with a proposal to hold it in the second half of May in Antalya so that the Russian authorities would see the measures taken and have no questions left," the ambassador said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and the country's Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy are ready to visit Moscow in May for talks on the epidemic situation, Samsar added.
"Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and Culture and Tourism Minister Ersoy have expressed their readiness to visit Moscow in May at suitable dates for the Russian side to address their Russian counterparts' concerns and provide necessary information [on the epidemic situation]," he said.
"Tourism is an area of cooperation between Turkey and Russia that is based on mutual benefits and is important both in economic and humanitarian terms," the ambassador continued. - "I would like to state that we in Turkey are open for cooperation and do our best to develop our relations in this sphere and receive millions of Russian citizens who wish to vacation in Turkey, as in previous years, in the best, healthiest, and safest conditions".
Turkey notes that coronavirus infection rates have been declining in popular coastal cities for tourists, Samsar said. "The decline in illness continues in our coastal cities, which are popular with Russian and other foreign tourists. For example, the rate of decline in Antalya during the week of April 24 to 30 was 35 percent compared to the previous week," he said. - "We aim to reduce the number of people falling ill to 5 thousand by May 17".
Earlier, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared a complete lockdown in the country from 19:00 on April 29 to 05:00 on May 17 because of the situation with the coronavirus. All organizations and institutions have ceased their activities, with the exception of those exempted by a circular of the Interior Ministry. Intercity travel is permitted only after obtaining permission from the authorities. Hotel reservations are no exception to the restrictions on long-distance travel. Foreign tourists are not subject to a curfew.
Russia from April 15 to June 1 limited passenger air travel with Turkey due to a new outbreak of coronavirus in that country, the number of flights was reduced to two per week on a reciprocal basis.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS