Erdoğan: Turkey Nears End of Coronavirus Outbreak

Photo: AA

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Turkey has successfully managed the course of the novel coronavirus pandemic and is nearing the end of the outbreak, according to President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"The picture after the normalization steps we took shows that we are on the right track," said Erdoğan in remarks for the Eid al-Fitr, also known as the Sugar Feast, the Muslim festival that marks the end of the Ramadan.

Addressing the members of his AKP via video link, Erdoğan thanked the public for staying at home during a four-day curfew over the holiday.

Turkey imposed a four-day nationwide curfew during Sugar Feast beginning at midnight on Friday (May 22) to curb the spread of Covid-19, which has claimed over 4,300 lives in the country.

Although the infection rate of the disease has slowed down, the country still registers nearly 1,000 new cases a day on average, according to the Health Ministry figures.

Praising Turkey's health sector investments, Erdoğan asserted that these had turned out to be prudent in the fight against the coronavirus.

"I believe that we will overcome this epidemic period with the least damage through this [new normal] lifestyle, that we can summarize as wearing masks, compliance with physical distance, attention to cleanliness," he added. (EKN/VK)