While travelling to different countries is allowed, still you will find it hard as every country has its own protocols regarding accepting visitors. During covid outbreak, Countries had to implement new rules and restrictions on travellers. 

National Security and Pandemic both led to complete bans on travelling in some countries like China. In European and Middle east countries, covid was worst and they started to limit their imports and exports. In 2021, Covid outbreak resulted in Travel restrictions to Turkey. 

Why do countries restrict travellers?

National security and safety is the main priority for any nation. Both internal conflicts and external disputes should be resolved by the government before it can destroy the life of citizens. There are many countries who had faced similar fate when they could not handle the ruling power and led to the dystopian future. There are several reasons why a country needs to put restrictions on its citizens as well as travellers. 

Internal Conflicts : The internal conflicts of a country start with a normal fight which can be verbal or physical. If not stopped in the meantime, it can result in mass conflict and even regional dispute. This is how big terrorist organizations were formed. 

Unresolved old disputes : In any country, you can find some disputes in history which led to big revolutions and wars. As a consequence, citizens had to suffer. Every nation has the same repeated story. The small issues should be solved in time otherwise it might turn into a war and waste a lot of time, money and lives. Protesters always create chaos for national security as they are one of the reasons for public property destruction and mislead the citizens against government rule. 

Health : Covid Travel restrictions to Turkey is an example of how a country has to put restrictions on Travellers to save their citizens. During the pandemic, the whole world turned upside down, the government had to implement new rules and banned citizens from going outside. Covid virus was aerobic which means it could easily spread and multiply in numbers. The Turkish government implemented many new rules and restrictions on travel as it was necessary to save Turkish citizens from decreasing mortality rate. Citizens had to lock themselves in their own house. Schools, colleges and Offices found a new way to work from home and depend on the internet. Health is the priority of any person as she needs to be physically fit to live a good life. Physical health affects us mentally and we become hopeless. For a bright future, you need to be healthy. 

Ongoing Wars : World wars in the past led to dire consequences that people are still recovering from the damage. Many family members got separated. Countries Divided. Natives had to leave everything behind and migrate to different places. People took refuge and faced difficulties due to differences in lifestyle, culture, language and physical appearance. A country always needs to be alert about ongoing wars as we have already seen Destruction of the citizens of Syria. Turkey is one of Middle eastern countries which always lives in threat of terrorism and invasion of  terrorists groups. Its government had to put restrictions on specific imports and exports of goods and restrictions on Migration. It is a possibility that terrorists can enter the country disguised as Refugees to harm the citizens and their security. That is why it is one of the main reasons which led to travel restrictions to Turkey from foreign countries. 

Afghanistan is a current example of harmed national security where militant groups invaded and attacked the afghani citizen. Women are banned from schools and people are unemployed with limited supply of resources. 

National Heritage : While allowing travellers, a nation needs to put limitations on them to ensure public hygiene and safety. Tourists enter and leave so much waste behind. The natural vegetation or a holy river gets destroyed by repeated visits of tourists and so many resources get wasted during this time. Every country has their specific culture and their historical places  keep their roots and heritage safe for years. 

People from foreign countries who do not have any knowledge about the significance of a Tree, river, building, statue, they just see these heritages as a source of art and entertainment. They just want to click pictures with them and in this process, they damage many things. Every country should implement guidelines to the visitors on how to behave in public places. 

Entry requirements

As we have already discussed all reasons of putting travel restrictions to Turkey, here are latest travel restrictions implemented by Turkish government on travellers from foreign countries : 

1. Within 72 hours of travel, a person needs to fill and submit an online form which consists of information about his personal details like, name, identity proof, age, address, nationality, profession, Date of Birth, Salary, Family members, an education qualification. 
2. While applying  for the Visa, make sure you know about all restrictions made by the government.
3. Must wear a face mask all the time during the flights and at the airport.
4. After arriving in Turkey, it is compulsory to give all required medical tests asked by the authority. Even if you already have a proof of your covid test as negative, the Turkish airport authority will still take all tests.
5. Make sure you know about all covid rules beforehand to avoid issues during your entry to the country.
6. Submit your details regarding address, profession, job location, current location and medical history.
7. False information can lead to cancellation of your entry and even arrest in some cases.
8.  Make sure you have taken doses of Covid vaccine.
9. You can travel around the country only if you have the travel permit from the authority. While applying online, make sure you contact the main authority of Turkey. 
10. The provinces of Turkey are divided in four tier regions due to covid. All four provinces have different levels of covid outbreak from low to high. Make sure you know where to travel and avoid any problem. A map showing these tiers is available on the Ministry of Health website. 

Putting reasonable Travel restrictions to Turkey or any other country are essential for citizens’ safety and progressive future.