Latest ‘Do Not Travel’ Areas, Where You Can Go In Turkey After Earthquakes
So far, the death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey has passed 50,000, along with almost 6,000 people in Syria. Another recent earthquake has the country in devastation with rescue work still ongoing. Meanwhile, the disaster has not affected some areas of the country, which are still safe for travel purposes. However, it is important to note 10 areas of Turkey that have a “do not travel” warning and are still in a state of emergency.
Where can you visit in Turkey?
Admittedly, anyone who has already booked a vacation in Turkey is no doubt concerned about traveling in the aftermath of the earthquakes. On the other day, visiting the country at this time could be a way to help the country, by possibly boosting the economy.
The two major earthquakes affected southern Turkey and Northern Syria, causing a huge swathe of devastation. On February 6, two major earthquakes hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, causing huge devastation. In the latest aftershock on February 27, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit eastern Turkey, killing one person and injuring dozens as some already damaged buildings collapsed.
For this reason, the Turkish government has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas. However, despite this, many of the country’s tourist hotspots are unaffected.
The Turkish Government has declared a state of emergency in the affected regions, however many of the country’s tourist hotspots are unaffected. These include the following:
- Turkey’s beach resort areas including Antalya, Bodrum, Marmaris and Izmir were not impacted by the earthquakes. There is no travel warning for those areas.
- Turkey’s capital city Ankara, and popular Istanbul were not affected by the disaster and are safe to visit.
- The iconic Cappadocia, famous for its rock formations and hot air balloon trips has fortunately not been affected by the earthquakes.
State of emergency provinces
The following areas of Turkey are currently under a state of emergency and travelers will not be able to enter, as only vehicles carrying aid are welcome:
- Kahramanmaras
- Gaziantep
- Malatya
- Diyarbakir
- Kilis
- Sanliurfa
- Adiyaman
- Hatay
- Osmaniye
- Adana
Meanwhile, travelers are warned against all but essential travel to the provinces of Hakkari and Sirnak. Moreover, British travelers have been advised by the FCDO against all travel to areas within 10 km (6.2 mi) of the Syrian border. Obviously, this applies to any international travelers due to safety and security concerns.
However, it is warned that any booked vacations to Turkey are unlikely to be canceled. For this reason, travelers could lose their money or only receive a partial refund should they decide to cancel.
Travelers are also warned that hotels could be busier than normal, as some are being used to house survivors from the earthquakes.
If plans are still in place to visit these areas of Turkey, it is best to find out whether you can cancel. Due to the state of emergency, it is possible that cancelations are covered by your travel insurance policy. The best thing to do is to contact your broker for their advice.