ESKISEHIR/ORDU, Turkey
As part of Turkey’s efforts to evacuate its nationals from abroad amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, it brought back a total of 622 nationals on Wednesday.
From Iraq, 289 Turkish nationals were airlifted to Turkey’s central city of Eskisehir.
Meanwhile, a total of 333 were flown in from Russia, arriving at the Ordu-Giresun Airport in northern Turkey.
After routine health checks, all were taken to dormitories in the provinces of Trabzon, Giresun, Ordu, Kutahya and Afyonkarahisar.
The nationals have been placed under quarantine as part of measures to curb the spread of the virus.
At the instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, Turkey repatriated nearly 25,000 citizens from 59 countries ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The Turkish government has brought back around 60,000 of its nationals from various countries since the start of the pandemic.
In Turkey, a total of 38,809 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the virus, while the death toll stands at 2,992, as of Tuesday.
The pandemic has killed more than 218,600 people worldwide and infected over 3.14 million, while at least 948,600 have recovered, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.
* Writing by Seda Sevencan
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