Turkish police will stop, check permits of everyone outside during curfew hours
Turkish police will stop everyone who is outside during curfew hours and check to see if they have legitimate reasons to be outside, a new decree by the Interior Ministry said on April 15. Titled "Intense Inspection Efforts," the decree also said that "maximum presence of law enforcement" will be ensured on the streets during lockdown hours.
Duvar English
Turkish police will stop and check permits of everyone who is outside during lockdown hours as part of "Intense Inspection Efforts" to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Interior Ministry said in a decree on April 15.
"Individuals who are outside during lockdown times will each be stopped, and their exemption status from the lockdown will be checked," the decree said.
Police will also check to ensure that a person's official exemption is in accordance with their location at the time of their police check, as well as the time of their exemption with the time of the control.
The decree also required police to check to ensure that pedestrians are in compliance with the requirement to only walk to the closest grocery store between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. during weekends.
Earlier this week, President Recep Tayyip announced a partial lockdown during the first two weeks of the Muslim month of Ramadan to curb COVID-19 infections as the number of infections hit a record.
Erdoğan said the government was re-imposing bans on intercity travel, barring people over 65 and under 18 from using public transport, re-adjusting public sector working hours, closing sports and leisure centers and expanding the length of night-time curfews.
Turkey currently ranks fourth globally in daily COVID-19 infections numbers - a five-fold jump from early March, when the government loosened social curbs in what he called a period of "controlled normalization."
Ankara has blamed lax public adherence to rules and virus variants for the surge.