Twenty-three provinces in southeastern Turkey have been hit by heavy dust clouds from North Africa. The dust clouds, which have been effective since the end of last week, have affected the provinces of Diyarbakir, Mardin, Siirt, Sirnak, Batman, Bitlis, Bingol, Elazig, Malatya, Adiyaman, Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, Kilis, Hatay, Adana, Osmaniye, Mersin, Karaman, Konya, Niğde and Aksaray, including the capital Ankara. Elderly and sick people were warned not to go out. Turkey's General Directorate of Meteorology announced that the dust cloud was most intense in Mardin, Sanliurfa, Gaziantep and Kilis provinces on the Syrian border.