Turkey to Reopen All Tourism Facilities as International Flights Resume

Photo: Antalya/AA

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As of July, Turkey will resume all those tourism facilities planned to be reopened as part of the "normalization" process, Minister of Tourism and Culture Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has stated.

Speaking to CNN Turk yesterday (June 10), Ersoy commented on the revival of tourism in the country.

After resuming domestic flights on June 1, the state-owned Turkish Airlines also restarted international flights today between İstanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport and Germany (Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Frankfurt), the UK (London), and the Netherlands (Amsterdam).

"In tourism, there is no other country that has done certification better and more reliable than Turkey," the minister said.

Emphasizing that Turkey needs to adapt to a new normal, the minister talked about the new measures that the country's hotspot airports will take.

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"As of today, tourists from Germany will come to Turkey. When foreign visitors come, they will be health-checked, and body temperatures will be measured. If there is a suspicion, tourists will be taken for a PCR test. These measurements will start in Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Izmir, Istanbul airports, the country's provinces with the most tourist attraction," Ersoy said.

The country's main priority in this process is to resume air traffic to all countries, according to the minister.

"We are hoping to increase air traffic in July," he said, adding the process of opening air traffic for most countries in the world would complete in August.

"We have sent letters to at least 60 countries which provide most tourists to Turkey. We have informed them of Turkey's tourism certification program, and our enhanced hospital infrastructures," he added.

Status of Hagia Sophia

To a question about the reopening of Hagia Sophia for worship, Ersoy said: "If the court decision comes through [to open Hagia Sophia for worship], I will not be worried about tourism, we will find a solution."

Hagia Sophia, called by historians the Eighth Wonder of the World, is one of the most-visited museums in the world and a gem of architectural history.

President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated his intent to restore Hagia Sophia's mosque status, and recently allowed a special Quran reading there. (AÖ/VK)