Hawzah News Agency - (Ankara - Turkey) - As the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate headlines, Turkey is set to bring back nearly 25,000 expats from 59 countries so they can spend the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at home with their families.
Announcing the plan in a Twitter post, Vice President Fuat Oktay said Turkey has always stood by its people regardless of their location amid the pandemic, which has claimed over 145,000 lives across the globe.
Oktay said the Turkish nation and state are determined to face down the coronavirus crisis with the help of the country's fellowship and solidarity.
According to Oktay, the mass evacuation plan will require joint collaboration between several ministries and governorates.
Since the coronavirus pandemic crippled international travel, millions of people were left stranded far from their homes. Governments across the world launched evacuations plans, but the sheer number of people and lack of commercial flights caused the issue to take longer than anticipated.
In line with governments and airlines across the world, Turkey suspended all of Turkish Airlines' (THY) international flights for an indefinite period as of March 27, including those to New York and many European destinations.
With all commercial flights coming to a halt, the Foreign Ministry has dispatched military and civilian airplanes to dozens of countries since the outbreak began, bringing thousands home, but more still remain stranded.
On Friday, 442 citizens became the latest to be brought home on two flights.
Some 262 Turkish citizens were evacuated on a flight from London and were placed under a 14-day quarantine to prevent potential further infections.
The passengers, who arrived at Esenboğa Airport in the capital Ankara, were transported to Çankırı province on buses accompanied by police teams.
While the police teams enforced security measures around the building, provincial municipality teams disinfected the buses.
Similarly, a plane carrying 180 citizens from Ukraine landed in the northern province of Trabzon. The evacuees were then taken to neighboring Rize province to be placed under quarantine for two weeks.