“What I am saying is Turkey is safe enough for the travellers of Hong Kong to go and enjoy their vacation. Of course, we want [the travel alert] to be abolished or at least decreased,” Kemik said.

“The state of emergency will not affect the daily lives of Turkish citizens as well as the vacation of foreign visitors. There is no obstacle as far as international tourism and air traffic is concerned. And also there is no negative security situation in tourist destinations.”

Some 15,000 Hongkongers travelled to Turkey last year and trade between the two places is worth US$1.5bn. There are 900 Turkish citizens registered as living in Hong Kong.

“On the travel alert per se, I don’t see any kind of major political effect but of course it affects our relations, especially on tourism,” Kemik said.

The diplomat, who was only appointed to the post 10 months ago, said he was committed to bringing closer ties between Turkey and Hong Kong.

“As consul general I want to improve relations between [Turkey and Hong Kong] – such as in culture, education, tourism ... but this travel alert, for me, serves as an impediment especially in areas such as tourism.”

Kemik said Turkey was facing a “multidimensional threat”, but did not want to be singled out from a list of other European nations that had suffered recent unrest and threats to public safety.

Turkey has suffered 14 suicide bombings, explosions, or attacks since last year – some which targeted well-known tourist districts. The bureau said it would “monitor and assess” the situation.

“I can assure you that Turkey is doing its utmost to prevent this kind of attack [on] citizens and visitors coming in,” Kemik said.

“Our security forces are working very efficiently. They are alert against possible terror attacks. We also have strong intelligence agencies working on this.”

He said the consulate was in contact with the Hong Kong government, and hoped there would be a “positive” outcome.