Turkey to ease coronavirus restrictions starting from Monday

Photo: Presidency

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Turkey will gradually begin lifting lockdown restrictions starting next week, President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

"We will start implementing our normalization calendar as of Monday," he said while addressing a virtual meeting of the AKP.

The government on April 29 imposed what it called a "full lockdown" to curb the spread of coronavirus. The number of daily cases has reduced by about 60 percent since then, according to official figures.

The restrictions will be eased in phases until the end of May and significantly as of June, Erdoğan said.

He praised the country's health care facilities and social security system for preventing a crisis.

Turkey, a country of 83 million people, has administered over 25.6 million coronavirus jabs since launching a vaccination campaign on January 14, according to Health Ministry figures.

More than 14.8 million people have received their first doses, over 10.7 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Turkey began a 17-day lockdown that will last until May 17 and cover this week's Sugar Feast (Eid al-Fitr) holidays.

The restrictions led to a drop in 80 of Turkey's provinces between May 1-7, according to the latest Health Ministry statistics.

Israel-Palestine conflict

About the most recent Israel-Palestine escalation, Erdoğan has had phone conversations with his counterparts from several countries, including Russia, Iraq, Nigeria and Kyrgyzstan.

He said Turkey is trying to get the international community to teach a lesson to Israel, "which lacks law, justice and a conscience."

He noted the importance of taking joint action at all relevant platforms to mobilize the international community in the face of Israel's "brutal" attacks. (HA/VK)