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148 stranded Indians students in Turkey request safe passage

148 stranded Indians students in Turkey ask for help

 

148 Indian students and 38 officials who were stranded in Turkey after an attempted coup by sections of the military are safe, said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.


According to the NDTV report, a video message sent to Indian TV channels through WhatsApp assuring the safety of these students confirmed that they were in the north-eastern province of Trabzon for the 2016 World Schools Championship which will end on July 18.


"Our parents called and told us, around three hours ago, that a bomb blast took place in the city of Ankara in Turkey. But there are no problems where we are which is Trabzon," a group of students from Tamil Nadu said in the video message.

 

NDTV reported: ''We have to go to Ankara on 18th and then Istanbul to take the flight to Delhi. We appeal to the Indian government to help us return safe,'' Tamil Selvi said over the phone from Trabzon. "As of now, we are safe but we don't have access to TV so we don't know what is happening."

 

Tamil Selvi's father Venkatesh said he was worried as the students were around 400 km away from the location of unrest and it was difficult to say how long the situation will remain dangerous. 

 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in a tweet confirmed that all students and officials were safe and will return in batches from July 18.

 

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that the situation is under control as loyal military and police forces defeated the coup attempt that killed over 250 people and injured over 1,000 people.

 

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

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