Evacuation of Turkish, TRNC citizens from Gaza continues

The evacuation of citizens of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) from Gaza has continued amid Israel's bombardment of the Palestinian enclave.

In an operation conducted in collaboration with the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), a group of 100 people were brought to Istanbul Airport on a Turkish Airlines flight from Cairo on Wednesday.

Officials from the Foreign Ministry and AFAD welcomed the group, including people with disabilities, the elderly, women and children, who had entered Egypt via the Rafah border crossing.

One of the evacuees, Abdullah Coskun, expressed his happiness at reaching Türkiye.

"Thank God I have reunited with my family. Our journey from there to here was very difficult,” said Coskun, who thought he would not be able to see his family again due to Israel's indiscriminate attacks.

After passport control, some of the evacuees left the airport on their own, while TRNC citizens and those residing in other cities were taken to hotels by buses provided by AFAD.

With the organised evacuation operations, approximately 350 Turkish and TRNC citizens have been brought back so far, and evacuations from Gaza will continue.