ATHENS

Turkey announced on Saturday that it would bring the 160 passengers of a Greek cruise ship to Turkey.

The passengers of El. Venizelos currently docked in Piraeus in southern Greece were quarantined along with the ship's crew on April 3 after the novel coronavirus was detected onboard.

Among the passengers, 152 passengers of the vessel were Turkish nationals.

Turkey's ambassador to Greece, Burak Ozugergin, said that Ankara green lighted an initiative to bring back all 160 passengers once they all emerged on Friday night from the standard 14-day quarantine and underwent the necessary health checks.

They will be brought by bus from Piraeus to the Ipsala border gate with Turkey, where they are expected to arrive on Saturday night, Ozugergin added.