Eleven Cities Request Full Lockdown over Covid-19 Pandemic

An empty road in Karaköy, İstanbul during last weekend's curfew. (Photo: AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Eleven larger cities, including İstanbul and the capital Ankara, have demanded the government declare a full lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The common opinion of many national and international scientists, many institutions and organizations related to urban life from economy to health, and us, those who run these cities, is 'curfew or full-isolation.' We, again, draw attention to the need for this application before losing more time," said a joint statement by 11 mayors from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

Although the government has been unwilling to declare full lockdown, it imposed a curfew for 31 larger cities last weekend and announced that a curfew will take place this weekend as well. Opposition parties and healthcare professional organizations have been advocating a curfew.

CLICK - Ministry Imposes Last-Minute Curfew for Weekend, People Queue Up in Front of Groceries

The mayors also stated that local administrations "urgently need" economic measures in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, including increased budgets and postponement of debts.

They requested the government to suspend taxes for public transport vehicles and provide interest-free loans for the municipalities due to the postponement of bills for three months.

Municipalities should be involved in the mask distribution to people, the statement also said: "Delivery of protective masks to Metropolitan and district municipalities in proportion to their populations and distribution of masks by the municipalities will both speed up and facilitate the access of the public to the service."

Provincial committees on the pandemic should announce all data regarding their provinces on a daily basis, the statement further said.

Larger cities, which are called "metropolitan municipalities" in Turkey's local administration system, have been more severely affected by the pandemic. Having nearly 60 percent of the cases, İstanbul has been the hardest-hit city and is followed by Ankara and İzmir.

The statement was signed by the following mayors: Ekrem İmamoğlu (İstanbul), Mansur Yavaş (Ankara), Tunç Soyer (İzmir), Zeydan Karalar (Adana), Yılmaz Büyükerşen (Eskişehir), Özlem Çerçioğlu (Aydın), Osman Gürün (Muğla), Vahap Seçer (Mersin), Kadir Albayrak (Tekirdağ), Lütfi Savaş (Hatay). (DB/VK)