Foreign nationals who want to escape from Lebanon, where the airports are out of service due to ongoing Israeli attacks, continue to go to Mersin in Türkiye by sea, so they can fly back to their countries from Turkish airports.
“Our children were very scared and we had to return to our country. We were living in Beirut. Our house is on a high hill. We saw the bombs and we were very scared,” said Gülsüm Sak, a Turkish national.
“I went to work there. Bombs were exploding everywhere, including the vicinity of the hotel we were staying at. What happened is not like what you see on TV; there is blood everywhere. We had to hide in the mountains. I had to return so that I wouldn’t die in a war between two different countries,” said Baki Çidem, another Turkish citizen.
Meanwhile, other foreign nationals who were preparing to go to European countries after their passport procedures thanked Türkiye for allowing them to leave Lebanon.