EU Turkey travel restrictions from politics not health

By Erbil Basay

BERLIN (AA) – As the European Union has kept travel restrictions on Turkey even though most of its active cases were discharged from hospitals following recovery, recent media reports in Germany suggest political motivations were behind the EU move.

A piece in daily Die Welt said the case count in Turkey was no worse than in many other countries and that the travel restrictions against Turkey are not reasonable from a health standpoint.

The piece also cited Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu telling how the safety of hotel facilities in the country was ensured with help of German company TUV and a Turkish certification program.

According to the report, the medical realities in Turkey played a secondary role in Germany’s COVID-19-based foreign policy.

Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RDN), for its part, said Turkish criticism of travel restriction decisions by Berlin and Brussels made good points, adding that Germany’s travel warning should be based on a better rationale.

Stating that Germany could be accused of abusing the travel issue with Ankara unless it justifies its decision, RDN went on to say that the unjustified moves would not be politically wise or honest, adding that German travellers should not suffer due to political disputes.

Turkey has so far recorded nearly 205,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, and over 179,000 patients have recovered. The country's death toll stands at 5,206, and a normalization process is underway while people work to keep wearing masks and maintain social distancing.

The country recently adopted a healthy tourism certification program with the collaboration several government ministries to ensure the safety of tourists amid the outbreak. Under the program, a variety of measures have been adopted in many fields including transportation, accommodation, the condition of tourist facilities, and the training of their employees along with the health status of travelers.