Health Minister: I couldn’t foresee that social distance would disappear

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Health Minister Fahrettin Koca addressed the reporters at the Parliament and answered their questions yesterday (February 24).

Minister Koca was asked a question about the allegation of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who said that 1 million free COVID-19 vaccines coming from China were charged by the State Supply Office (DMO) for 12 dollars each.

A reporter also asked Koca about the funeral of Islamic scholar Muhammed Emin Saraç, which was attended by Fahrettin Koca himself at the weekend and sparked harsh criticism, especially by people who had to lay their loved ones to rest with a limited number of people, as the Minister urged them to "have 30 people at most" in such ceremonies.

Koca said the following about these issues:

'I will respond to vaccine allegations tomorrow'

"There is nothing that we cannot answer for before our citizens in that sense. I don't find this attitude, this behavior and attitude of disturbing unity and solidarity moral. There is nothing that we cannot answer for.

"I am especially in favor of keeping on struggling together with our 83 million citizens. It will be the success of our 83 million people, too. In response to the ones who want to confuse our citizens, I will make a detailed statement about this at the press conference tomorrow.

'I apologize for the funeral'

"Especially in the pandemic, we all know the course of the outbreak and that of the infection. We also know that infection soars in crowded places and in closed places. We have always tried to tell this.

"At that funeral, I could not foresee that there would be a picture where distance would disappear. Should I have foreseen it? Yes, I should have. It is my fault. I apologize to our citizens for this."

CLICK - Then, why did we lay our father to rest with 15 people?

Reactions on social media

After the funeral's pictures were shared, several social media users expressed their criticisms. Some of these tweets were as follows:

"1.5 months ago, I lost both my father and my 47-year-old elder brother, my dearest, within 3 days. We rejected all friends who wanted to come. We laid him to rest only as his siblings, as if he had no one else in life. No one should say 'Mask-Distance-Cleaning' to me anymore."

"Everytime I see such crowded funerals... Why did we lay my father to rest with 10-15 people?"

"A month ago, we held the funeral of my father, my dearest, with eight people. We were so miserable that it is really hard to tell. We would love to embrace all our loved ones and cry..."

"On Friday, my paternal aunt living in Fatih lost her life and the Fatih Mosque did not allow us because of the pandemic. Enough with this double standard!!! Pro-government ones are free to do everything!!!"

"Dear Health Minister Fahrettin Koca; I swear on my mother, whose deceased body that we took from your hospital and whom I buried with only 10 (let me write it in words: TEN) people to observe the pandemic measures: I will live to ensure that people will not forget your hypocrisy in the below incident and similar others. I swear." (EKN/SD)