58 people have been unable to depart from Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport over the last four days due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting immigrants and visa holders from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country, reported by Cumhuriyet daily.
The international passengers were denied direct and connecting flights from the airport following the ban. Ten were denied their flights from the airport on Jan. 28, 42 were denied on Jan. 29, four were denied on Jan. 30, and two were denied on Jan. 31. Ten passengers who were denied on Jan. 29 had direct flights booked from the airport, while 32 had connecting flights through Istanbul.
The passengers of the banned countries reportedly began waiting for the cancelation of the order while Turkish Airlines, which flies to nine destinations in the U.S., has also been negatively affected by the ban.
Trump signed an executive order Friday barring citizens from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan from entering the country for 90 days and suspended the admission of all refugees for 120 days. The order indefinitely bans entry of those fleeing from war-torn Syria.
World leaders and prominent figures have blasted Trump’s temporary ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States as divisive, illegal, insulting and discriminatory.
While many countries have lambasted the ban, Muslim-majority nations not on the blacklist have remained largely silent — with the exception of Pakistan. Australia, which has implemented hard-line policies against refugees, was one of the few nations to voice support for the ban.
Tens of thousands of protesters have flooded airports across the United States over the weekend and tens of thousands of people have held protests across the world after Trump signed the executive order.
