* Photo: AA / Archive
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Minister of Interior made a statement on his Twitter account in the evening today (April 12) and announced that he has resigned from office.
The resignation of Süleyman Soylu has come amid public outrage over the last-minute curfew declared in 31 cities for the weekend.
CLICK - Ministry Imposes Last-Minute Curfew for Weekend, People Queue Up in Front of Groceries
Soylu has said, "In this laboriously and meticulously run process, the responsibility for implementing the curfew decision for weekend with the sole aim of preventing the spread of the outbreak lies with me in its all aspects.
"The scenes that unfolded, albeit at limited hours in the beginning, conflicted with the perfectly conducted process.
"Dozens of experiences that I have should not have led to such scenes in an incident where the responsibility fell on us.
"It was a step taken with a good intention of stopping the outbreak and its spread to some extent. I will be loyal to our glorious nation, which I never want to hurt, for the rest of my life and may my Dear President forgive me.
"I am leaving office as the Minister of Interior, which I have been holding with honor. Farewell to all friends and to my colleagues... May the God protect our nation..."
— Süleyman Soylu (@suleymansoylu) April 12, 2020
What happened?
On April 10 at 10 p.m., the Ministry of Interior declared a curfew in 30 metropolitan cities and Zonguldak for a period of 48 hours as part of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) measures. 45 minutes after this decision was made public, the circular dated April 9 containing details as to the scope of the curfew were shared with the public. The circular indicated that health institutions, bakeries, pharmacies and gas stations in places with a population of over 50 thousand people will remain open.
However, as the decision of curfew was announced to the public two hours before the curfew entered into effect at midnight, several people rushed to the streets to buy groceries and bread from bakeries and markets. The resulting images and videos have caused public outrage.
'With the instruction of our Dear President...'
Later in the evening, Süleyman Soylu shared the details about the curfew on a live TV program. In referring to the curfew decision, he said, "It was within the frame of our Dear President's instruction."
Speaking to Ahmet Hakan from Hürriyet newspaper today, Soylu said that "he accepted the criticisms." Ahmet Hakan reportedly called Soylu upon criticisms about the curfew. "In terms of its timing, the decision belongs to our ministry," Soylu told Hakan and added, "I am saying this once again. I have accepted the criticisms as well. I have also accepted the insults." (DB/SD)
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