Masses of Israeli travelers have been stranded in Turkey, after carriers Turkish Airlines and Pegasus suspended flights to Israel, along with other major worldwide airlines.
While it’s a scene being repeated in other cities with airlines that are refusing to fly to Ben-Gurion airport, in Turkey, which has seen large anti-Israel rallies, many passengers report feeling uneasy about being forced to stay overnight or longer, Ynet reports.
“At about 1:30 at night, they started to send us to hotels, and Turkish Airlines representatives told us not to speak too much Hebrew and not to leave the hotels,” one passenger trying to get from Holland back home tells the news site.
The site reports than many turned down the hotel offer out of security fears, choosing instead to spend the night on the airport floor.
With the second most flights out of Ben-Gurion (after El Al), Turkish Airlines has transformed Istanbul’s airport into a virtual gateway for Israelis flying abroad.
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Wednesday, July 23, 2014
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