EU urged to add Turkey to ‘safe list’

Both Germany and the European Union should review their virus-related travel warnings on Turkey based on objective criteria, Ankara said, noting that COVID-19 data proves the country must be listed as safe-to-visit

TURKEY yesterday called on Germany to review its travel warning against Turkey due to the coronavirus outbreak and on the European Union to add Turkey to its “safe list,” a list of countries that were classified by the 27-member bloc as safe destinations for travel. “Germany needs to review this travel warning. It needs to be (reviewed) within the framework of objective data. Our German friends also want to come to Turkey on holiday,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Berlin.

“The European Union’s list should also be determined within the scope of objective criteria,” Çavuşoğlu said. “After evaluating the situation based on the objective criteria, Turkey should be listed within the safe and secure countries.” Accompanied by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and Deputy Health Minister Emine Alp Meşe, Çavuşoğlu was in Berlin to discuss with German officials pandemic tourism among other issues. Germany is a key source of tourists for Turkey. The foreign minister said developments, measures and data regarding the COVID-19 process were shared with counterparts during the visit.

Ankara on Wednesday said it is disappointed by the EU’s decision to exclude it, along with the United States and other countries, from a list of 15 countries considered safe for nonessential travel and called on the bloc to correct its “mistake” as soon as possible, citing Turkey’s measures to combat the pandemic as well as efforts and success in this respect.

GREEK tourism sector representatives are urging tourist arrivals via both land and air to be resumed between Turkey and Greece soon as the country not only hosts a large number of tourists from its neighbor but also benefits from Turkish airports that act as a bridge between the country and non-European destinations.

Greece has partially reopened its airports as of July 1 with the easing coronavirus-related restrictions, however, flights and land crossings with Turkey have not yet been reopened for tourists.

Accordingly, the majority of hotels remained vacant in the holiday destinations most preferred by Turks in Greece, and discounts of up to 50% on hotel prices can be seen in the area, tourism representatives told Turkish broadcaster NTV.

Thassos Hoteliers Union Chairman Dimitrios Papadimitriou said that the island welcomed 60,000 Turkish tourists last year and that Turkish tourists are not only important for the Thassos tourism industry but for all the touristic destinations from Kavala to Alexandroupolis (Dedeağaç) near the Turkish border.

Papadimitriou said he believes the Greek government will take the necessary steps soon so that Turkish tourists can begin coming to the island. Explaining that the occupancy rate in the hotels is now around 40% with tourists from Romania and Bulgaria alone, Papadimitriou also stressed that this caused a fall in the prices by around 25% to 40% to attract tourists and revive the sector.

“We believe that the government will focus on the problem and understand how valuable Turkish customers are,” he said, highlighting that he, himself, also wants to visit Turkey, especially Gökçeada and Bozcaada, two islands located off the shores of Turkey’s Aegean coasts. Other Greeks also hope to visit Turkish touristic destinations, he added.

The world-famous Greek island of Santorini is yet another destination that expects resumed fights with Turkey due to Istanbul’s location as an air transportation hub.

A tourism operator from Santorini, Petros Pelekanos, said that Istanbul Airport is a junction.

“Tourists come to Istanbul first and then here. Most of the tourists coming from non-EU countries such as the U.S. and Australia came to Greece last year in that way,” he noted.

Pelekanos said that the occupancy rate of hotels in Santorini is now around 20%, while room prices are down by up to 50%. Greece reopened its regional airports to international travelers from 14 countries approved on the European Union’s “safe list,” which also excluded Russia and the U.S., pinning its hopes on a recovery in tourism after a three-month lockdown. Athens updates the list of countries from which it receives tourists every 15 days, depending on the negotiations with the EU and the number of COVID-19 cases in the countries. The next list will be effective from July 15. Greece’s tourism sector accounts for a fifth of its economic output and employs 700,000 people. The country’s economy is expected to shrink by at least 8% this year.