Turkey revises quarantine regulations for Pakistani passengers

ISLAMABAD: The Turkish authorities have issued a revised policy regarding the mandatory quarantine requirement on passengers arriving in Turkey from Pakistan and Afghanistan, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to the new regulations, the quarantine period for passengers arriving from Pakistan and Afghanistan has been reduced from two weeks to 10 days. The new policy will come into effect on July 1.

Meanwhile, passengers arriving from Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, South Africa, and Sri Lanka will continue to observe the mandatory 14-day quarantine period, said a press release from Ankara.

The Turkish authorities have also informed that additional details on quarantine arrangements including options for passengers from Pakistan will be issued soon.

It read that the Embassy of Pakistan in Ankara has remained in touch with the relevant Turkish authorities ever since the quarantine requirements were first issued for passengers from Pakistan on June 1.

The embassy continued to share details of the improving COVID-19 situation in Pakistan as a result of the policies adopted by the Pakistani government.

Based on the scientific data, the Turkish authorities have been requested to revisit the policy of mandatory quarantine requirement for passengers arriving from Pakistan. It added that the embassy will continue to remain engaged with the Turkish authorities on the matter.

Passengers travelling from Pakistan to Turkey are kindly advised to review their travel plans in light of revised regulations.

Earlier on June 2, the Turkish authorities had granted a one-day exemption (June 1) on mandatory quarantine to Pakistani passengers being stranded at airports.

The Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri had said in a statement that a number of Pakistanis had gotten stranded in Istanbul as they started their journey before the announcement of new travel restrictions by Turkey for inbound passengers from several countries including Pakistan.

Following the new directives, Turkey had imposed a quarantine of 14 days on passengers arriving from several countries including Pakistan. The Pakistani embassy in Ankara had contacted the Turkish authorities regarding the decision.

Later, the Turkish authorities had granted a one-day exemption (for 1 June 2021) to Pakistani passengers and allowed their entry into Turkey after a negative PCR test conducted at the airport.