Turkey’s ban on Turkish ships sailing to the Greek islands has been lifted follwoing a meeting between Greek Shipping Minister Panagiotis Kouroublis and his Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan in Athens
According to Mr. Arslan, passenger ferry services will continue to run normally since the two sides recognized their importance in tourism and the economy. As he said, a mission from Greece is due to visit Turkey next week to speed up technical procedures to lift the ban on tourist vessels.
“We intend to overcome the problem,” he said, stressing that the Turkish side’s intention is to lift the ban.
He noted that the ban on commercial yachts of less than 24 meters would be continued.
In a letter sent to the local port authorities, the Turkish Ministry of Transport imposed a ban on Turkish-flagged vessels bound for Greece since 25 September as well as regular shipping lines from October 12 onwards, citing the Paris MoU List’s oversight.
As the Turkish Minister explained, the problem arose because Turkey could not take the risk of losing the white flag on this list.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
