By Hasan Esen and Muhammet Tarhan
LONDON (AA) - Students who wanted to return to Turkey but were unable to because of cancelled flights worldwide due to the novel coronavirus are now being evacuated by Turkey’s flag carrier.
A Turkish Airlines flight with 348 students on board left London’s Gatwick Airport on Monday.
After being provided with masks for the flight, they will be quarantined for 14 days upon arriving in Turkey.
"I was stranded in Canterbury after the borders were closed," said Can Karslioglu, who was studying at Kent University.
“Thanks to our government's efforts, now I’m going back home. We were very anxious, but I’m a bit relieved now. I trust my country's health system much more.”
Melike Ayaz, a PhD student at Manchester University, said they could not take the last flight out because they were in a different city.
"We are now going back, thankfully. We will be quarantined and do as the health officials say. We know this is best for us and our country," she added.
There will be another flight coming out of the U.K. tomorrow.
Meanwhile, a Turkish Airlines flight with students who wanted to leave countries with flight bans left Dublin today, Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran said on Twitter.
"The first Turkish Airlines flight with students from 7 different countries has taken off from Dublin. I hope you are all well. Your quarantine places are ready and waiting for you," Kiran wrote.
At the direction of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, flights were arranged for students in the U.K., Ireland, Poland, Italy, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who wanted to come back to Turkey.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said 3,358 students would be brought back from seven countries with flight bans and will be quarantined at dormitories in various Turkish cities.
To date, 30 people have died from the coronavirus in Turkey with 1,236 cases confirmed.
After surfacing in Wuhan, China last December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to 167 countries and regions, infecting over 375,000 people, according to the latest figures from U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. More than 16,000 deaths from the virus have also been confirmed.
*Writing by Firdevs Bulut