French Bouygues company special flight from Turkmenabad to Paris with a stopover in Prague evacuated on 9 April from Turkmenistan 37 EU citizens and 7 non-EU citizens, including 25 Bouygues employees and additional 19 non-Bouygues persons; 8 pets were also onboard (3 dogs and 5 cats).
The main aim of this flight was to repatriate some of the Bouygues expatriated employees or members of their families. But the available seats have been generously proposed also to the non-Bouygues EU citizens residing in the country, but also, in line with the principles of solidarity and humanitarian cooperation, to the non-EU citizens residing in the country. To generate a list of all non-Bouygues potential passengers of the evacuation flight, mechanism of local EU consular cooperation was activated, with the involvement of the resident EU Member States Embassies of France, Germany, Italy and Romania, EU Delegation to Turkmenistan, and some non-resident EU Member States Embassies accredited from abroad in Turkmenistan. Thanks to this well-coordinated cross border consular cooperation, all EU citizens residing in Turkmenistan who expressed wish to be evacuated from the country were able to get a seat onboard the Bouygues flight. Special acknowledgment for organizing this humanitarian evacuation flight belongs to the Bouygues Company, Embassy of France in Turkmenistan, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan whose assistance was crucial in facilitating all needed flight’s permissions and in assisting with the domestic flight of Turkmen airlines Ashgabat to Turkmenabad.
The passengers did not include any diplomats. /// EU Delegation to Turkmenistan, 10 Apr