A Turkish tourist said that Israeli police treated them like fugitives at Tel Aviv airport and their dream was to visit Jerusalem.
Israel has denied entry to a group of Turkish tourists planning to visit the city of Jerusalem, claiming that the group “forged” their visas.
Mustafa Bickioglu, a representative of the Turkey-based Sila Tour company, told Andalou Agency that 72 Turkish citizens were stopped and barred entry at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday.
Bickioglu said that the Sila tour company received a visa letter written in Hebrew, which works as a collective visa for all passengers, from the Israeli consulate in Istanbul.
He confirmed that Israel does not provide separate visas for each passenger to tour companies that bring tourists to Jerusalem.
Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority claimed that the visa had been forged, Haaretz reported.
Bickioglu said that 15 passengers were sent back to Istanbul and another 33 are expected to be deported as well, depending on airlines seat availability.
One of the tourists, Sumeyra Sevgulu Haciibrahimoglu, a 23-year-old master’s student, told Anadolu that Israeli officials had treated them like fugitives.
“After questioning some of our friends in the security inquiry room, we were taken to different rooms in groups. Some of the families among us wanted to be in the same room but Israeli police rejected this request.”
She added that her purpose was to visit the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Source: Middle East Eye
