Turkey criticizes the EU for not including it in the list of safe countries
Turkey is "disappointed" that it has not been included in the list of countries rated by the European Union (EU) as "safe" from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the recommendation to open the borders with them from today.
"We are disappointed that Turkey is not on that list," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in remarks to the NTV station.
The partners of the EU yesterday approved the opening of their external borders, closed since March by the pandemic, to 14 non-member countries, from a list that will be reviewed every two weeks depending on the evolution of the pandemic in them.
Aksoy considered that the list was not made with "objective criteria" and that he hopes it will be corrected "as soon as possible".
Since the first coronavirus infection was officially detected in mid-March on its territory, Turkey has so far recorded 199,906 cases, including 5,131 deceased patients.
In the past two weeks, the Eurasian country has seen a rise in the number of daily infections, which increased from an average of 900 to about 1,200 cases.
The Government has imposed the mandatory use of a mask in public spaces in most of the country's provinces, in the midst of the de-escalation of the restrictions against COVID-19.
