Three tourists from Kurdistan Region stranded at Istanbul airport for 18 days amid airspace closure

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three tourists from the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province say they have been stranded at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport for the past 18 days, unable to return home after being deported from Georgia and caught in airport closures amid the ongoing regional conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran. The young men say authorities in both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq have so far failed to resolve their situation.

“We are three Kurdish youths from Sulaimani. We [two of them] traveled to Turkey and then to Georgia in transit, but the Georgian authorities did not allow us to enter the country despite us having visas, travel insurance, tickets, and hotel reservations,” Raber Kamal, a resident of Sulaimani province’s Said Sadiq town, told Rudaw on Sunday night.

According to Kamal, after they were deported back to Turkey from Georgia, another friend who had been in Lebanon joined them so they could travel together to Erbil via transit. Instead, the group found themselves stranded at the airport.

“Our return ticket was for 11 am on February 28, but the airport closed at 10 am, because the fighting started, and we were unable to leave,” he said.

18 days without proper shelter

Since then, the men say they have been living inside the airport under extremely difficult conditions.

“We have been here since that morning [February 28]. We have no food, no bathroom access, and no place to sleep. There is literally nothing here,” one of the stranded tourists said.

They claim airport authorities told them they cannot leave the airport or be issued visas unless officials in their home country formally contact Turkish authorities to arrange their return - something they say has not yet happened.

The tourists say they have repeatedly reached out for help, contacting the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Interior, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Office of Foreign Relations (DFR), and several consulates.

“Unfortunately, they only delay us from one day to the next. The Kurdistan Region’s Office of Foreign Relations tells us they cannot do anything for us. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry says the same,” Kamal said.

Desperate to return home, Kamal said they have pleaded with officials to send them back by any means possible.

“All we want is to return home. We keep telling them, ‘Sir, even if you handcuff the three of us together and send us back with the police or anyone else, we agree. Just send us home,’” he said.

“But no one answers us.”