Turkey, a popular holiday destination, has been shaken by the strongest earthquake (Turkey earthquake) in decades. Do travelers now have to worry after the disaster?
The full extent of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and neighboring Syria only gradually become apparent days later. Whole regions lie in ruins, authorities speak of at least 16,000 dead and 66,000 injured, and countless are now homeless. The World Health Organization estimates that 23 million people could be affected. In addition to compassion, people who have planned or booked a trip to Turkey may now have questions about their trip. What travelers need to know now?
Where was the earthquake in Turkey and Syria? Are holiday regions also affected?
The Turkish-Syrian border areas were particularly hard hit by the violent earthquakes. According to media reports, the epicenters of the earthquakes were in the provinces of Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey. There it should have come to earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 7.8 (on a scale of up to 10). According to the Federal Foreign Office, the regions affected by the disaster are:
- Kahramanmaras
- Gaziantep
- Hatay
- Adana
- Malatya
- Diyarbakır
- Sanliurfa
- Adiyaman
- kilis
- Osmaniye
There are no classic holiday areas there, as the travel magazine Reisereporter writes. It is primarily people who travel to these regions from Germany who have relatives there. The Federal Foreign Office provides information for local people or relatives on its website.
Are there still flights to Turkey after the earthquake?
The impact of the earthquake catastrophe on air traffic mainly affects domestic connections. According to the travel reporter, the airports of Hatay, Kahramanmaras, and Gaziantep are currently closed. Airlines from Germany to Turkey are largely unaffected. Only the airline SunExpress flies directly from Frankfurt/Main with Gaziantep to one of the affected airports; but also offers transfer connections from Hamburg, Berlin and Munich, for example.
Flights flying from Germany to the Side, Antalya and Istanbul airports, which are important for package holidays, are currently not affected. Travelers who have booked flight connections with SunExpress or Pegasus Airlines to one of the destinations affected by the earthquake can cancel or rebook free of charge until February 21 (SunExpress) or February 28 (Pegasus). The airlines provide information about this on their respective websites. Also, Pegasus offers to fly people out of the earthquake area for free.
Earthquakes, like other natural disasters, are among the so-called “extraordinary circumstances” that allow free cancellations under German travel law. However, a specific travel warning from the Federal Foreign Office must apply for this. In other words, the trip will be specifically affected by the extraordinary circumstances, according to travel reporters. Fear or feelings of insecurity are not justified reasons for cancellation.
In this case, however, a travel warning has only been issued for the directly affected regions. So if you have booked a trip for the Turkish tourist strongholds around Istanbul, Side or Alanya, you can cancel your trip, but you should not expect a full refund of the travel price. He is not entitled to it, as travel reporters inform. In some cases, however, airlines and tour operators could be accommodating.
Powerful earthquakes: Is a trip to Turkey dangerous?
Earthquakes in Turkey are not uncommon. Due to its location, according to the Federal Foreign Office, “many smaller but also serious” earthquakes could occur in the country. Because a large part of Turkey lies in a seismic active zone. Below it runs the border between the African and Eurasian continental plates, which leads to the tremors. The question of how dangerous a trip to Turkey is, therefore, seems justified.
The earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria early Monday morning (February 6) were exceptionally powerful. They may have been the most severe tremors in decades. However, experts are certain that there will also be strong earthquakes around Istanbul in the near future. This is what Professor Marco Bohnhoff from the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said in an interview with the Science Platform Earth and Environment (ESKP). Basically, a trip to Turkey is not unsafe. However, the Federal Foreign Office strongly advises against traveling to the border areas between Turkey and Syria and Iraq; primarily for political reasons.
This article was originally published on Frankfurter Rundschau Germany
