ISLAMABAD: The Turkish government has eased quarantine regulations for Pakistani nationals intending to travel to Turkey and these regulations will become effective from Saturday.
Ankara said in a statement on Friday that irrespective of vaccination status, all passengers will submit a negative PCR test result that should be made at most 72 hours before their entry into Turkey. As per the new regulations, passengers arriving from Pakistan who will have documentary proof of Covid-19 vaccination will be exempted from quarantine.
Such vaccination should be of two doses approved by the World Health Organisation (except for Johnson & Johnson which is a single dose).
Quarantine exemption will be applied to those vaccinated whose last dose was administered at least 14 days before their travel.
Pakistani travellers who cannot provide proof of vaccination will be quarantined in their residences or addresses that they will declare, while tourists will quarantine at their booked hotels. They will be PCR tested on the 10th day of the quarantine period and in case of a negative result, the quarantine application will be terminated.
The persons who do not take a PCR test on the 10th day will be kept under quarantine for 14 days. In case the test results are positive, the case will be dealt with as per the guidelines of the Turkish ministry of health.
Before the Turkish government announced these revised regulations, the Pakistan embassy was in constant touch with the relevant Turkish authorities, sharing the status of vaccination and measures in place in Pakistan for controlling the spread of Covid-19 infections, Pakistani mission in Ankara said.
It said, “Pakistan missions in Turkey are available to assist our nationals to the best of our abilities.”