Turkish seem more concerned about saving their face than imposing order at the resorts
The Turkish side adopted quite a weird position in regard of yet another case of intoxication of foreign tourists at a resort hotel. Instead of carefully studying the problem and trying to quickly fix it, the Turkish Embassy in Moscow and the “delinquent” Alara Park 5* Hotel of Alanya categorically deny the mere fact of the accident. Meanwhile over a hundred people sought medical attention, which was confirmed by TEZ Tour and Ingosstrakh Insurance Company.
The case was reported on Sunday, August 28th. However by that time Russia’s Consul General in Antalya Mr. Alexander Tolstopiatenko had no official information on the accident. And finally yesterday a spokesperson of the Culture and Tourism Department of the Turkish Embassy stated that the report on mass poisoning of Russian tourists in Alanya was totally incorrect.
The message reads that the Department immediately contacted the administration, a Health Ministry official, the hotel’s owner and physician and some of Alania’s hospitals. This survey didn’t provide a single confirmation of the food poisoning. The hotel with 1100 foreign guests, 320 of which are children, carefully controls all the cooking ingredients on a daily basis, which can be seen from the regular reports.
As per the official report of Avsallar/Alanya Clinic, during the period from August 1st to 29th some of the guests of Alara Park Hotel sought treatment against allergies, sore throat, minor injuries. Out of 103 patients 36 complained about a stomach upset. According to the hospital’s reports these disorders were caused by the food eaten outside the hotel, sunstroke, change of climate and prolonged exposure to swimming pool water, especially by children. The food products’ sanitary check by the clinic’s specialists determined no deviances, which was later confirmed by laboratory tests. All the guests who needed medical care were immediately given one. At that none of them was admitted and all the patients went on with their vacations after the necessary procedures.
“We are not arguing the fact that some hotel guests may suffer stomach disorders due to various reasons, but these are individual cases, which can’t be considered a basis for the reports of mass poisoning” – reads the Turkish Embassy’s report.
In the meantime, Mrs. Marina Makarova, the PR-Director of TEZ Tour Company, revealed to RATA-news that the tour operator stopped selling tours to Alara Park Hotel, since as many as 103 of its clients sought medical attention and not during 29 days from August 1st to 29th, but during the last 13 days. This piece of information was confirmed by the Remed Assistans Company - Ingosstrakh’s partner in Turkey that provides insurance policies for TEZ Tour’s clients. And later on, Mrs. Larisa Antonova, the Head of Travel Insurance Department of Ingosstrakh confirmed this information as well: “We have recorded every case of seeking medical care by the Alara Park Hotel guests, otherwise why would we be talking about it” – wonders Mrs. Antonova.
And it is really weird that the fact that so many people seek treatment against diarrhea, stomach aches, vomit and fever doesn’t disquiets neither the hotel’s management, nor the “Health Ministry Office”, nor the Embassy’s Culture and Tourism Department. Even stranger is the physicians’ statement that the health upsets were caused by the food from outside the hotel, while the hotel operates on all inclusive basis. Sadly, the Turkish doctors consider as much as 36 out of 103 cases, which is more than a third part, to be “individual”.
The number of troubles that the Russians encounter in Turkey is kind of going over the edge lately. Yesterday there were recorded cases of food intoxication in Kemer’s Yelken Blue Life Spa & Wellnes 5* Hotel. Coral Travel Company that sends tourists to this hotel reports that a mass poisoning is not yet the case, but five people have already come to a hospital looking for medical assistance.
It would be fair to say that Turkey is not the only country poisoning Russians. A Russian family of two adults and three kids took to their beds suffering severe intoxication in Tunisia at yet another all-inclusive Primasol El Mahdia 4* Hotel.