Tuesday saw the introduction of the "Makkah Route" plan by Saudi Arabia in Turkey. In the presence of the Director of Turkish Religious Affairs, Dr. Ali Arbash, Saudi authorities led by Lt. Gen. Sulaiman Al-Yahya, the director general of Passports, and Saudi Chargé d'Affaires in Ankara Mohammad Al-Harbi launched the project at Istanbul International Airport.
The project intends to easily accept the pilgrims and help them fulfil the necessary formalities upon leaving their home nations. It begins with electronically issuing the visa and collecting the necessary information, and continues with going through the whole passport process at the airport of the nation of departure after confirming the fulfilment of the necessary health conditions.
The processes also involve classifying and labelling the luggage of pilgrims before sending it to their residence in the Kingdom. For this year, the "Makkah Route" project was extended by the interior ministry to include Turkey and Ivory Coast. Since the initiative's initial introduction in 2019, it has expanded to function in seven nations, including Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, and Bangladesh.
