Turkey brings back expats, Ukrainians from Argentina

By Omer Tugrul Cam

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey on Thursday brought back nine Ukrainian citizens from Argentina along with Turkish expatriates as part of its relief operations during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey said six other countries had rejected their request to repatriate the citizens.

“We are grateful to Turkey for bringing Ukrainians along with Turkish citizens via a specially arranged Turkish Airlines flight,” Andrii Sybiha told Anadolu Agency.

The ambassador gave assurances that the Ukrainian citizens will follow the mandatory quarantine rules, and will then be sent back to Ukraine via Minsk.

Sybiha said 3,000 Ukrainians had been sent back home with the support of Turkey thus far, adding that the cooperation between Kiev and Ankara should continue.

The Turkish government has also repatriated around 60,000 of its nationals from various countries since the start of the outbreak.

Turkey currently ranks among the top 10 countries in the world that have done the most virus tests – more than 1.23 million.

* Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak