Turkey relaxes quarantine restrictions for Pakistani travellers

ANKARA: Turkey on Tuesday made changes to its quarantine policy for travellers coming from Afghanistan and Pakistan, making a 10-day isolation period compulsory but has allowed the period to end in seven days if if a negative coronavirus test is received.

According to the latest circular by the Ministry of Interior, dated June 28: "All passengers arriving from Pakistan and Afghanistan, regardless of their vaccination or recovery status, must acquire a negative PCR test result within the last 72 hours to their boarding time and enter a 10-day quarantine," said a statement issued by the Pakistani mission in Ankara's Information Section.

The Pakistani mission said that the Turkish authorities have said that it will be possible to end the quarantine by the seventh day if their coronavirus "result is negative".

"In case they test positive, then decision will be taken by the authorities as per the COVID-19 guidelines in Turkey as regulated by the Ministry of Health," said the embassy.

Passengers may  need to go to private hotels for quarantine 

The Pakistani embassy also said that Turkish authorities at the airports may ask passengers to isolate at private hotels due to "limited capacity" government-run quarantine centres. It also said that the cost of the stay will have to be borne by the passengers.

"In case the passenger is quarantined at a government facility, there will be no financial implication on the passenger," said the mission.

Earlier, Turkey's coronavirus policy had made a 14-day quarantine mandatory for passengers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka at locations decided by the government of Turkey.