PodcastOpposition MPs call for lockdown in Turkey as coronavirus cases rise
Deputies from opposition Good Party (İYİ Parti) have called for a lockdown amid a surge in numbers of coronavirus cases in Turkey. The deputies tweeted calls for Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca to initiate a lockdown as soon as possible to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus.
Duvar English
Two deputies from the opposition Good Party called for an immediate lockdown in Turkey, one also urging the declaration of a state of emergency, as a precaution against the coronavirus as the official number of infected people in Turkey surged to 18 March 16.
The Turkish Health Ministry’s precautions were sufficient before the virus appeared in Turkey, Good Party’s Isparta Deputy and physician Aylin Cesur said in a tweet late March 15.
“The problem is now serious,” Cesur said, “with the immediate declaration of a state of emergency and a 15-day lockdown, we can still avoid hundreds of daily losses like Italy.”
The sooner a lockdown is called, the better, said Good Party Group Deputy Chair and Kirklareli Deputy Lütfü Türkkan, to avoid a case similar to Italy.
“It will be perceived as unnecessary by some at first, but you will have protected the country from a disaster and done your duty,” Türkkan tweeted.
Turkey’s Education Ministry suspended primary and secondary education for one week starting March 16, with the rest of the term unknown. Universities were shut down for three weeks starting the same day.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry shut down bars and night clubs, officially dubbed “public rest and entertainment venues,” for an unknown period March 15.