Turkey is facing a growing coronavirus crisis with roughly 1,200 dead
Nuray Lydia Oglu and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The nation of Turkey is facing a growing coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis with roughly 1,200 dead. At the same time, infections are increasing. Thus, one can expect many more citizens of Turkey to die in the following weeks.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the leader of Turkey, will need to reign in his foreign military adventures in Libya and Syria given the severity of the coronavirus crisis. Similarly, the economic angle looks set to increase unemployment just like other nations hit hard. However, with the economy being rocky in the last few years then Turkey faces a challenging period.
Currently, you have just below 57,000 recorded cases of coronavirus. Hence, to counter the crisis, Turkey is increasing its testing to contain the situation. Therefore, roughly 376,000 tests have been taken.
The sudden curfew announced took many by surprise and highlights the need to consult. However, this equally applies to other nations where leaders have taken unilateral decisions. Despite this, the short notice led to chaos and confusion in parts of Turkey.
The Independent reports, “The 48-hour curfew applies to all the country’s major urbanized provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Konya, Gaziantep, Antalya, and Diyarbakir as well as the coal-mining district of Zonguldak. Turkish officials insisted that no one would go hungry during the 48-hour lockdown, and distributed photos showing police handing loaves of bread to residents under curfew.”
Erdoğan, understanding the economic weakness in recent years is focused on the economic angle. Thus, essential sectors including banking, construction, manufacturing, mining, and others, are currently still operating.
Reuters reported, “Ankara has halted all international flights, limited domestic travel, closed schools, bars and cafes and suspended mass prayers to counter the outbreak. But people are still going to work, as Erdogan seeks to sustain economic production and exports.”
Of course, if the deaths continue to increase and infections grow then the economic angle will become more challenging. Hence, Turkey faces a difficult period just like the hardest-hit nations of Europe and others further afield.
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