Turkey brings back 363 citizens from Sudan amid virus

KHARTOUM

Turkey evacuated more than 360 more of its citizens from Sudan on Wednesday with special flights in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The first especially arranged Turkish Airlines flight left Khartoum International Airport at 11.00 a.m. Turkish time (0800GMT) and the other at 2.20 p.m. (1120GMT) with 363 Turkish citizens on board, Turkish Ambassador to Khartoum Irfan Neziroglu told Anadolu Agency.

Underlining that the flight was arranged at the directives of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Neziroglu said, a total of 567 Turkish citizens have so far been flown back to Turkey from Sudan after all flights to the country were grounded due to the coronavirus outbreak worldwide.

Following health checks, the citizens will be sent to student dormitories to be quarantined for 14 days.

As many as 180 expats were already placed under quarantine in a student dormitory in western Kutahya.

On April 15, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on social media that those citizens, who were abroad on temporary visas, would be repatriated at the president’s directive in the shortest time possible after quarantine conditions are prepared in Turkey.

Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter that 25,000 Turkish citizens have been brought back to Turkey from 70 countries so far.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara