Turkish tourists denied entry to Israel
According to Daily Sabah newspaper, the group was planning to visit Jerusalem as tourists, said Mustafa Biçkioğlu, a representative of Turkish Sila tour company, and were denied entry on the grounds that they did not have visas.
Biçkioğlu disputed this reasoning.
Israel does not provide separate visas for each passenger to tour companies that bring tourists to Jerusalem, he said.
The document issued by the consulate works as a visa for all passengers. We had received a visa letter in Hebrew for our passengers for travel on our Jerusalem tour but our 90 passengers were not allowed to enter Israel for allegedly not having visas.
The incident comes as tensions between Israel and Turkey remain high over a range of issues, amongst them Israeli concerns about Turkey’s growing influence in Jerusalem.
In June a Turkish woman visiting Israel as a tourist, Ebru Ӧzkan, was detained as she tried to leave Israel and was charged with passing hundreds of dollars to Hamas. The charges against her were later dropped and she was allowed to return to Turkey.
The Washingon Post said her release came as part of an unsuccessful deal to secure the release of Andrew Brunson, a U.S. pastor detained in Turkey since 2016. Turkish officials have said the claim was unfounded.
SOURCEahvalnews
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