Holidaymakers who wanted to travel from Fethiye to the island of Rhodes were left stranded

Holidaymakers who wanted to travel from the popular holiday destination Fethiye in Muğla to the Greek island of Rhodes faced difficulties. Hundreds of people who wanted to cross from Fethiye Port to Rhodes for their holiday, despite buying tickets from a tour company at the gate for visa application, were left disappointed as their travels could not take place. The holidaymakers gathered at the port accused the company of selling tickets well above the daily visa quota of 50 people determined by the Greek authorities and requested help from the officials. One of the affected holidaymakers, Ozge Budunoglu, explained the hardship they faced. Budunoglu mentioned that a few months ago, they purchased tickets to go to Rhodes Island from a travel agency in Fethiye. Budunoglu stated that the company officials told them that visa applications would also be made through the company due to the visa application at the gate, and after paying the ticket fees, they gathered all the necessary documents for the visa and submitted them to the company. Budunoglu said that they paid a fee of 80 to 100 euros in cash for each application, and the company sent them a message confirming the approval of the visa, assuring them that they could enter Rhodes Island without any issues. However, Budunoglu and many other holidaymakers were surprised when they arrived at Fethiye Port. It was revealed that despite the daily visa quota of 50 people set by the Greek authorities, the company sold tickets to 200 people, and only the documents of 50 people were submitted to the Greek authorities. Budunoglu stated that they learned about this situation in the morning and that around 100 people whose documents were not submitted were not allowed on the ship. Ozge Budunoglu mentioned that the incident was not unique to that day only and similar problems occurred in the previous days. She said, ‘Our friends who managed to board the ferry before found out from the Greek police that the visa application at the gate was still ongoing but the company did not submit the documents. The people on the ferry pressured the captain to submit the documents and managed to get the visa and enter. However, when we arrived at the port at 05.00 in the morning today, we saw that the situation had not changed. Except for a few people whose documents were submitted, no one was allowed on the ship.’ Another travel agency representative stated that they were given a quota of 50 people and they made their applications in accordance with this quota. However, the affected holidaymakers expressed that despite the company causing them to be victims, they sold tickets to 200 people, leaving them stranded at the port in the heat of the holiday. Ozge Budunoglu said, ‘The company collected money by selling tickets to too many people without submitting the documents to Greece. We were scammed. We are expecting help from the authorities.’