Foreign Ministry appeals to Georgians not to travel to Southeastern Turkey
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Friday, August 7
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has appealed to Georgian citizens to refrain from travelling to the South-Easter part of Turkey, as the area is at risk from terrorist attacks.
The ministry stated that the Ardahan, Erzurum, Erzincan, Kars, Igdir, Agri, Van, Bitlis, Bingol, Mus, Elazig, Tunjelis, Malatya, Urfa, and Hakkari regions might be especially dangerous areas as the terrorist group, the Islamic State, threatens the territories.
As mentioned in the statement, at need citizens can address the Georgian diplomatic and consulate institutions in Turkish Republic.
In July, Turkey agreed to let the US military use its Incirlik airbase in order to launch airstrikes against IS targets.
Turkey was a partner in US coalition against IS, until July, when it bombed Kurdish and Islamic State positions. Shortly after this, an IS suicide bombing killed 32 people in the Kurdish town of Suruc.
The BBC reports that the Turkish government faced criticism for not doing enough against Islamic State, despite being part of the international coalition, which is more effective than the Turkish government.
Turkish police have continued arresting suspected members of IS and the PKK (Kurdistan’s Workers Party). Arrested suspects’ quantity is more than thousand people over past few weeks.
Based on BBC Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said US warplanes and drones were now arriving at Turkish airbases.
"We will soon launch a comprehensive battle against Islamic State all together," he said.
