“Turkey has denied many foreign mountain climbing enthusiasts permission to climb Mount Ararat, called Agrı in Turkish, but officials have announced that the process to get a permit to climb Ararat has changed for foreigners,” Today’s Zaman newspaper reports.

“According to the changes, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), whose approval used to be necessary for tourists to climb the mountain, will no longer be involved in the process. The Foreign Ministry will refer climb requests to the governor’s offices of the Agrı and Igdır provinces from now on and the governor’s offices will make the ultimate decision on requests,” the source reads.

The change was made to a 2006 protocol that regulated foreign nationals entering military zones for tourism or recreational purposes and Ararat falls under that protocol.