Doha, 01 July 2021 (Qatar Tribune)

By Ashraf Siddiqui

Travelers coming to Turkey from Qatar, who submit a document issued by Qatari official authorities stating they have been vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arriving in Turkey, and or have had the COVID-19 infection within the last six months before entry, would not be required to submit a PCR test result upon their entrance to Turkey, Ambassador of Turkey to Qatar Dr. Mustafa Goksu has said.

The ambassador added that effective from July 1 (today), all lockdown restrictions across Turkey will be lifted and there will be no restrictions on inter-city travel and travel by public transportation as well. All work places, restaurants, cafes, malls and cinemas will start to operate normally in Turkey from today, he said.

Despite the pandemic last year, Turkey hosted over 15.9 million tourists, though indicating almost a 69.14 percent decrease compared to 2019, while the revenues from the tourism sector decreased to $12.059 million.

The envoy said that as of June 29, a total of 48,923,436 vaccine jabs were administered in Turkey. While 33,920,018 people have received the first dose, 15,003,418 people have received their second dose.

Necessary measures taken by the authorities helped combat the COVID-19 and the vaccination pace made it possible to bring the situation back to normal, he said, adding that due to pandemic restrictions at many tourist attraction destinations, there has been an extraordinary increase in tourist visa applicants from Qatar to Turkey.

The Consular section in the Turkish embassy in Qatar is working for long hours to clear the applications.

Ambassador Goksu said those earning QR25,000 per month and above will be getting three-year multiple entry visa and non-Qatari passport holders with minimum salary of QR7,500 are entitled to apply for visit visa to Turkey.

While Qatari passport holders are entitled to get entry on arrival in Turkey, accompanying non-Qatari domestic workers are required to obtain visa that may take two days after submitting the required documents.

The Turkish envoy said that domestic workers of non-Qatari passport holders can accompany their employers but processing their visas may take eight days after fulfilling the requirement.