Turkey to resume visa services to Iraqi nationals on Sunday: Embassy
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Turkish embassy in Baghdad announced on Friday that Ankara will resume visa services Iraqi nationals, including the autonomous Kurdistan Region, on Sunday as nations are beginning to lift travel restrictions to varying degrees amid the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, the embassy added, “Should life be normalized in the country, border crossings with Turkey will reopen and international flights resume.”
The service fee for those holding Iraqi passports to obtain a visa to travel to Turkey will be $50, according to information provided by the embassy.
Since March, the Kurdistan Region and Iraq had closed all its border to tourists from neighboring countries, including Turkey, a measure to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic, officially known as COVID-19.
Commercial freight shipments and other trade have been allowed to remain active, notably over the Turkey-Kurdistan Region border.
Read More: Kurdistan reinstates border customs fees, earlier suspended to promote trade amid COVID-19 outbreaks
Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) had suspended all international and domestic flights across Iraq, except cargo flights, since March 17. The suspension had been extended several times – most recently until May 22.
In another statement issued on Friday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced a new repatriation of citizens who had been stranded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sweden because of the suspension of in international flights as part of anti-coronavirus efforts.
Read More: KRG repatriates another 223 stranded citizens from UAE, Sweden amid COVID-19 crisis
According to the latest data published by health officials, there are 3,193 confirmed cases of coronavirus across Iraq, including 117 deaths and 2,089 people who have recovered.
In Turkey, the number remains much higher with a total of 146,457 cases, including 4,055 deaths and 106,133 recoveries.
Editing by John J. Catherine