Injuries Among Algerians Stranded At Istanbul Airport After Turkish Security Forces’ Intervention

A number of marooned Algerians suffered injuries after the Turkish police intervened at Istanbul airport after the staging of a protest action there as the authorities demanded that they ought be evacuated to their homeland.

The stranded Algerian passengers have remained stuck there for several days in woeful conditions, including families, children and even patients who had recently undergone surgery in Turkey.

Eyewitnesses told “Echorouk” that the Turkish police forces resorted to intimidation after a protest action waged by the Algerian travelers who are still stranded in Istanbul airport, some of whom had been waiting for departure since March 17, but the Turkish police harshly intervened by showing utter negligence and started chasing the stranded Algerians at the airport.

Videos that reached “Echorouk” and others published on social platforms showed that a number of passengers were injured as a result of Turkish security forces’ crackdown, which required the intervention of ambulance teams.

“Echorouk” contacted the Algerian Airlines Company, Air Algerie, to find out if the company would schedule additional flights to evacuate the rest of the stranded in Istanbul, Turkey.

A source in the crisis cell for the evacuation said that the company suspended all its flights, whether commercial or those related to evacuation, and that programming new evacuation flights remains within the powers of the Prime ministry, in coordination with the Turkish authorities, stressing however that the Algerian air force is ready to conduct the trip and transport those who stayed abroad, according to the same source.

And the screens at Istanbul Airport showed that the flight to Algeria was 60 hours late, and that there was no indication of a new flight program, either from the Algerian or Turkish airline companies.

According to eyewitnesses at Istanbul Airport, there are about 900 Algerians without registration, while there are more than a hundred in the boarding hall after the registration procedure, but there is no programmed flight or plane available, and dozens of Algerians are presently in the international transit zone, hailing from Bangladesh.

In the context, the Ministry of Tourism and Handicraft said that 6,833 Algerians are currently in quarantine after they were evacuated from abroad, distributed to 56 hotel establishments in 16 provinces, namely Algiers, Boumerdes, Constantine, Oran, Setif, Tlemcen, Annaba, Al-Taref, Guelma, Skikda, El Oued, Oum El Bouaghi, Mostaganem, Tebessa, Setif, Ain Temouchent and Tipaza.