Turkey decrees a 48-hour curfew in 31 provinces to stop the coronavirus

The Turkish Ministry of Interior announced in an official statement the directive that orders all citizens of up to 31 Turkish provinces to confine themselves to their homes for 48 hours from this past midnight on Friday in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus through Ottoman territory.

The COVID-19 leaves in Turkey, for the moment, some numbers that indicate that there are already more than 1,000 deaths and that there are already more than 47,000 diagnosed cases of contagion. 

According to the official note from the Interior Ministry, the order will last until midnight this Sunday in dozens of Turkish cities, including, of course, the two main centers of assembly of people and large potential sources of infection, such as the economic center of Istanbul and the administrative capital of Ankara. 
 

Shortly after the government announcement, many citizens went to the markets and shopping centres closest to their homes to make last-minute mass purchases to stock up on supplies in the face of the country's imprisonment under Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Up to 31 of the 81 provinces that make up the Turkish map have been affected by the establishment of this confinement, which amounts to almost 80% of the entire territory, including the large national cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, or even others such as Izmir. 
 

The Ministry of the Interior ordered the provincial governors, who are responsible for law and order in the provinces, to ensure strict compliance with the decree on confinement issued by the Ottoman Executive. 
Establishments that are essential for the supply of basic necessities or health products or for certain transactions, such as markets and shops, bakeries, pharmacies, health centres and public institutions, will continue to be opened freely.

A curfew has been in force in Turkey since mid-March for those over 65 and for a week for those under 20, while the general public has been asked to go out on the streets as little as possible. The central Government had also suspended all international flights and, in addition, limited domestic travel; this had been coupled with the closure of schools, bars and cafes and the suspension of mass prayers and sports events to counter the outbreak of the coronavirus.

In this scenario, the opposition has denounced that the preventive measures of the Executive have been totally insufficient. The mayor of Istanbul, the opponent of Erdogan Ekrem Imamoglu's regime, has already called for the total closure of Turkey's main financial centre, something which the Turkish president refused to do, claiming that he wanted to reduce the economic impact of such a measure. 
 

"Istanbul is now clearly the focus of this disease in Turkey," Imamoglu told FOX TV last week. "Fifteen percent of Istanbul's population represents 2.5 million people, almost as many as the population of some European cities who are lamenting their situation," the city's top representative added. 

The Mayor of Istanbul urged the city's population to stay at home shortly after Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that 60% of the cases in Turkey were in this city.