Russian tourists to be evacuated from Turkey by July 28 — leading tour authority

Plans are underway to pull out Russian tourists from Turkey by July 28, Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, or ATOR, Dmitry Gorin told Life Internet portal. "All of them are currently returning as planned," he said. "We will finish transporting passengers, who were due to leave on July 16-17, by today or tomorrow. Those who are still in Turkey or who have arrived there recently will continue vacationing in the country’s resorts. That said the last remaining tourists will be flown out of Turkey by approximately July 28." According to Gorin, just 2-3% of tourists decided to cut their holiday in Turkey short, apart from that no tours were cancelled. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency has imposed restrictions on flights to Turkey. The agency declared that it would continue such efforts until the political unrest clears up. However, Russian and Turkish air carriers can continue their outgoing flights. The decision to restrict air traffic was taken after an attempted coup in Turkey overnight on Friday, July 16. The standoff unfolded chiefly in the capital, Ankara and Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul. Turkish leaders later announced that the coup had been quashed. According to the latest reports, 290 people were killed, while about 1,440 were wounded. On Monday, Rossiya Airlines began to evacuate passengers from Turkey who were unable to fly to Russia between July 16 and 18. More than 450 Russian tourists were brought from Istanbul and Antalya to Russia by Turkish airlines on Sunday. According to Russia’s Transport Ministry, plans are also underway to carry out another 11 flights from Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya to Moscow, Kazan, Sochi, Begishevo, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Nalchik, Ufa and Rostov-on-Don.