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Back in July 2021, Turkey announced that passengers arriving in the country would be subject to random "sampling" PCR tests, with any positive cases carted off to quarantine for 14 days.

This Turkish Airlines page indicates that the policy is still in place as of January 2022, although the quarantine period has been cut to 7 days (or less if you test negative on the 5th day), and anecdotal evidence says only passengers with a fever are likely to get tested. Any official, up-to-date sources regarding the current policy?

This seems awfully shortsighted to me, since transit passengers are exempted, meaning travelers now have a large incentive to not do a stopover and spend time/money in the country.

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    It's not cheap having infected foreigners spreading disease in your country either. Morocco, rather dependent on tourism, closed off all such travel for months and still requires both an expensive PCR test prior to arrival and 100% submits all visitors to another one (at no cost) upon arrival before they can leave the terminal building.
    – Spehro Pefhany
    Commented Mar 2, 2022 at 18:41
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    @SpehroPefhany COVID travel restrictions do nothing unless coupled with periodic hardcore China-style lockdowns, as evidenced by every single nation out there. Doubly so with Omicron. Unless you're China and willing to force an entire city to stay home for 30 days, there's no point in restricting travel.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Mar 2, 2022 at 20:21
  • @SpehroPefnany Then do what many Asian countries do and require insurance that covers hospitalization for COVID.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 0:37
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    It's safe to assume Turkish authorities are well aware of the costs and trade-offs involved and the impact on tourism specifically has apparently been debated in the country. I think the question would be better and more appropriate for this site without the last paragraph.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 9:49
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    @Relaxed COVID travel restrictions are driven by bureaucratic ass-covering and inertia, not logic. This particular restriction predates both Omicron and Turkey racking up >100k locally transmitted cases/day for weeks on end.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 13:52

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I'm local.

I just called to Turkish Airlines hotline for you and it sounds like the "randomized selection" and "fever control" is kinda over but there are still some requirements to fly depends on which country you are right now.

They directed me the page called Travel Rules of Countries to check on a map (somehow the map only loaded on Chrome, failed to load Opera and Edge) what PCR requirements are needed by entering your passport information, your country of departure and destination, and your vaccination status. Sound like they usually asks for fully vaccinated (2 biontech or 2 sinovac) or not.

You can also call the hotline yourself on +908503330849 and press 9 for English.

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  • Thanks! Vaccinations, testing and other requirements I can prepare for are OK, but a week in a hospital is not.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 13:50
  • @lambshaanxy Isn't that a risk either way? And isn't the risk of getting stuck because you test positive after a week and cannot leave for another country that requires a test before boarding just as high? The scenario we are talking about and that is supposed to damage tourism in Turkey is people being concerned that they might have a mild case of covid, do not care about the risk of actually needing medical care, don't mind testing in general but are stressed out about a potential additional test 24-48h after a first negative test?
    – Relaxed
    Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 16:43
  • @Relaxed the odds of needing hospital care due to COVID as a boosted invididual under the age of 60 is around 0.1% (conditional on being infected). Being stuck due to a positive test is a concern but luckily many nations no longer require a test if you have a booster, which eliminates the problem. And of course if you don't have the vaccine+booster, you should go get one :-)
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 19:07
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    @Relaxed I do agree its somewhat of a stretch but I can give you an itinerary where it matters that I'm personally planning to take in a few months: SFO->Istanbul->Prague. No test to enter Czechia (if boosted), no test to enter/transit Turkey. If there's a chance I'd be subject to a random test, I'd much rather not do a stopover. Assuming the US will drop test requirements shortly, I'd face the same conundrum on the way back.
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Mar 3, 2022 at 23:05
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    @Relaxed As far as I can tell (hence the question), Turkey's policy is that you're hospitalized for a full week if you test positive, even if you're completely asymptomatic. Which is considerably worse than isolating for a few days at home or a hotel/apartment of your choice.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Mar 4, 2022 at 0:43

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