Amid Calls for Curfew, Erdoğan Advises 'Voluntary Quarantine'

Photo: AA

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People of Turkey should adopt a "voluntary quarantine" against the coronavirus pandemic, President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late Friday (March 27).

Addressing the people amid calls for curfew, the President announced additional measures against the pandemic.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca earlier advised the government to "restrict the time spent on the streets," after a meeting with the ministry's science committee on the pandemic. The minister also stated that the number of Covid-19 cases in the country rose in one day by 2,069, or by 57 percent, the highest increase since the disease spread to Turkey.

İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu also requested the government to declare "at least a partial curfew" for the city to curb the spread of the outbreak. Hashtags demanding a curfew for the country have also been seen in the trending topics on Twitter in the last few days.

Appearing on a program on NTV channel yesterday, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said, "I can't say there is no need for a curfew."

Erdoğan said that "We aim to break the disease chain as soon as possible with measures that cover all areas of life," calling on the people to adopt a voluntary quarantine. "What does voluntary quarantine mean? [It means] we won't go out of home," he said.

He also announced that all international flights were suspended for an indefinite period. However, Turkey had already suspended all international flights except for the ones with Hong Kong, Moscow and Addis Ababa.

As for domestic transportation, intercity travels were now subject to governors' permission, he stated. (EKN/VK)