Breaking News: Weekend Curfew for 15 Provinces Canceled
According to the latest information, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced via his social media account that the weekend curfew planned for 15 provinces has been canceled. President Erdoğan stated that the initial purpose of the measure was to prevent the spread of the disease and to protect citizens, but that it had become clear the restriction would have various social and economic consequences. After a 2.5-month break, many citizens were trying to return to daily life, and he could not accept putting them at a disadvantage. For these reasons, he said, as President I have decided to lift the weekend restriction for the 15 provinces.
President: I Decided to Revoke the Curfew
President Erdoğan announced that the curfew, which had been announced by the Interior Ministry the previous evening, has been revoked. He said he took initiative based on feedback from citizens and decided to cancel the planned weekend curfew.
On his Twitter account, President Erdoğan explained that during the pandemic they implemented numerous measures to protect people from the coronavirus, one of which was targeted weekend curfews in certain provinces. He added that after the most recent set of restrictions they did not intend to reapply such broad measures, but rising case numbers forced temporary action. At one point daily new cases had fallen into the 700s, he noted, but more recently the numbers had risen into the thousands, which led to the earlier decision to impose restrictions.
Following a recommendation from the Ministry of Health and a related circular from the Interior Ministry, a weekend curfew was announced late yesterday. However, after receiving evaluations and feedback from citizens, this decision was reviewed. As a result, the President stated he chose to cancel the weekend restriction for the 15 provinces. He asked citizens to continue following the basic rules of Mask-Distance-Cleanliness during this period.