OREANDA-NEWS. The Turkish authorities will not fine Russian citizens who, due to circumstances beyond their control, violated the terms of their stay in the country. This was reported on Tuesday by the Russian Embassy in Ankara.

The Turkish authorities have officially notified the embassy that with regard to foreign nationals in Turkey who, as it will be determined, due to circumstances beyond their control, have violated the terms of their stay in Turkey due to force majeure due to cancellation of flights in the context of the coronavirus epidemic, penalties apply they won't be if the period of legal stay in Turkey has expired from the date of termination of the message to its resumption, the communiqué says.

The Russian diplomatic mission also said that "foreign citizens holding a residence permit and permanently residing in the territory of Turkey need to apply to the competent authorities in order to extend it". Coronavirus was first detected in Turkey on March 10 from a local resident who returned from Europe. The total number of infected reached 30,217, 649 people died, 1,326 recovered.