Turkey becomes the country with the most cases of coronavirus in the region

The Turkish nation has already had more than 2,000 deaths and more than 86,000 cases diagnosed with coronavirus, making it the country with the highest total number of cases of COVID-19 in the Middle East region and surrounding areas. It has taken this dubious honour away from Iran, where the authorities have ordered the opening of commercial centres and access routes between localities to give a boost to its battered economy, hit by the sanctions imposed by the United States; in what is seen as a controversial measure in the face of the fear of a second wave of infections. 

Turkey surpasses the Islamic Republic of Iran in total cases, although in terms of the number of deaths from the pandemic the Persian nation accumulates more than 5,000, a figure significantly higher than the Ottoman (with respect to the number of diagnosed, it slightly exceeds 82,000).

The Turkish Minister of Health, Fahrettin Koca, admitted these numbers and acknowledged the sharp rise in the number of victims caused by COVID-19 on Ottoman territory. 

Faced with this scenario of the coronavirus surge, the Turkish authorities decided to extend the ban on travel between the country's 31 provinces, including its main urban centres such as Istanbul (financial centre), Ankara (administrative capital) and Izmir, until 3 May, for a further 15 days.

The Turkish Interior Ministry said in an official statement that it is forbidden to leave or enter the provinces concerned “by land, air or sea borders”, whether by public transport, private car or on foot, unless one is in possession of a special permit.

The 31 provinces concerned represent 80 per cent of Turkey's population and include all major economic, political and social centres in the country, such as Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Gaziantep, Antalya and Diyarbakir.

Despite the increase in cases in Turkey, the COVID-19 expansion curve remains relatively stable, according to official sources. In this regard, Minister Fahrettin Koca explained that despite the increase in the number of screening tests performed “there is a decrease in the number of new cases,” all within the harsh framework of overall numbers of deaths and diagnoses. 

The fact that Turkey has surpassed Iran in the total number of people affected by the coronavirus is paradoxical, since at the end of February the country presided over by Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the decision to close the border crossings with the Persian country and also to suspend incoming flights due to the strong outbreak that the Iranian neighbour was suffering at that time, which placed it among the three countries most affected worldwide.

While trying to bend the curve of deaths and affected by COVID-19 around the planet, the Islamic Republic of Iran has decided to start opening intercity highways and large shopping centers to revive its economy, severely shaken by the current health crisis that has caused a general shutdown and affected, moreover, by a previously bad condition brought about by the sanctions imposed by the United States. 

The regime of the ayatollahs seems to be betting on a relaxation of restrictions in view of an improvement in the numbers of new cases of people affected by the pandemic, but there are fears that this reopening will cause a new wave of infections due to the increased activity that is planned. 

Iranian leaders defend their management by virtue of improving the national economy and to mitigate the financial blow caused by the interruption of the social and economic flow caused by the health crisis. 

The current health problem has affected the incomes of 50% of those interviewed by the Iranian Student Survey Agency (ISPA). Forty-two percent of respondents said their businesses had closed due to the crisis, while 13.5 percent of those interviewed this month said the outbreak had left them unemployed. The survey sample comprised 1,563 people.

Along with the general economic paralysis, Iran has been suffering in recent years due to the sanctions imposed by the US government of Donald Trump on account of the accusation of non-compliance with the nuclear agreement signed by these countries together with the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, Russia and the European Union (EU) in 2015 (JCPOA), which limited the Persian atomic program, especially in the field of weapons. An agreement that the US broke in 2018 by imposing harsh punishments on Iran. 

Among the most relevant sanctioning measures was the one related to the oil trade, the main source of Iranian financing, which hit the Persian economy hard; and to which President Hassan Rohani responded by threatening to continue trading with his oil and to blockade the Strait of Ormuz, the main passage zone for world oil trade. Threats were followed by violent acts against cargo ships in Gulf waters and attacks even on oil and airport interests in Saudi Arabia (a great rival of Iran and the main banner of the Sunni branch of Islam, as opposed to the one claimed by the Iranian nation). Offensives for which the regime of the ayatollahs was held responsible. 

Europe tried to safeguard this nuclear agreement with Iran and even enabled the INSTEX system to supply medical material to the Iranian state to fight the coronavirus pandemic. This mechanism, INSTEX, was used for the first time at the beginning of April and was designed to carry out transactions with the Iranian country by circumventing the US economic sanctions, through encouraging exchanges other than in dollars or through the SWIFT inter-bank system so as not to incur in a violation of the sanctions decreed by the Trump Administration.