Tag Archives: TURKEY

Two weeks of enhanced quarantine begin in Turkey

Turkey has announced the introduction of a “partial lockdown” in connection with the coronavirus epidemic for the first two weeks of the holy month of Ramadan.

This is reported by Hurriyet Daily News.

After a meeting with the government, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the new rules will start on Wednesday evening.

According to them, the curfew on weekdays will start at 7 pm, not 9 as before, and will last until 5 am. During this time, movement between cities will also be prohibited, except in cases of extreme necessity.

Cafes and restaurants will be able to work only for delivery or sell dishes with themselves. Halls for official ceremonies, gyms, etc. will be closed until the end of Ramadan.

Last week, Turkey registered new highs of coronavirus infections, the highest being more than 55,000 per day. On April 12, the figures again exceeded 54 thousand. Against the background of the deterioration of the situation, they first allowed a complete lockdown during the entire Ramadan.

More than 11 million people have already been vaccinated with the coronavirus vaccine, and more than 7 million people have been vaccinated with the second dose.

Head of the European Council disappointed with the outcome of the incident with chairs in Ankara

The head of the European Council Charles Michel regrets that the incident with the placement of chairs at the talks in Ankara overshadowed the most important visit for the European Union to Turkey.

On Tuesday, Michel and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, were on a visit to Turkey, where they held talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

The footage of this meeting published on the network shows that the organizers provided only two chairs for the negotiators against the background of the flags of the European Union and Turkey.

Chairs were taken by Erdogan and Michel, Von der Leyen had to sit on a sofa to one side, opposite Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

“Despite striving to do everything right, Turkish authorities’ strict interpretation of protocol rules has led to an unfortunate situation,” Michel wrote on Facebook.

He believes that a “protocol oversight” was made in relation to the head of the European Commission, which could look like a belittling of importance. However, according to him, it was decided not to aggravate the situation, but to continue political debates with the Turkish side.

The US imposes sanctions on Turkey over deal with Russia

The United States has been imposing sanctions on the Turkish Defense Industry Authority (SSB) since April 7, as well as four officials for a “major deal” with Russia’s defense sector in 2017.

This is stated in the notification in the US Federal Register.

According to the document, the head of the SSB, Ismail Demir, and three other officials who work in it was sanctioned. They will no longer be able to visit the United States, their assets in American jurisdiction will be blocked and Americans will be banned from doing business with them.

The sanctions are imposed under Countering America’s Adversaries through the Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

What kind of agreement was concluded in 2017, between Turkey and Russia is not specified, but it can be assumed that we are talking about a contract for the supply of Moscow to Ankara S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.

Earlier, Turkey said that it would not abandon the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems purchased from Russia, even despite the threat of US sanctions.

Recall that NATO explained why Turkey does not need Russian missile systems — they are incompatible with the technologies of the Alliance and can not be integrated into its air defense.

In Turkey, again revealed a record number of cases of COVID-19 per day

The daily increase in cases of coronavirus in Turkey for the fourth day in a row updates the record since the beginning of the pandemic, it was 44,756 on Saturday, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the republic.

As Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, due to the increase in the number of infections in most Turkish provinces, a curfew is being reintroduced on weekends-from 21.00 on Friday to 5.00 on Monday.

“Today, 44,756 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified, and 1,483 patients have been hospitalized. 186 patients have died, 32,078 have died since the beginning of the pandemic. 2231 patients are in serious condition,” the ministry said in a statement.

In January, Turkey began vaccination against coronavirus with CoronaVac from the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, and since March, the country has also used the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. At the first stage, doctors, teachers, and the elderly received the vaccine. The number of citizens who were vaccinated exceeded 16 million, with more than 7 million receiving both doses of the vaccine.

Turkey has a record daily increase in COVID-19

During the day, more than 40 thousand new cases of the disease were confirmed in the country. The indicator breaks records for the third day in a row.

In Turkey, 40,806 new cases of coronavirus were detected in a day — the highest daily increase in the incidence since the beginning of the pandemic. This was reported by the Turkish Minute on Friday, April 2.

At the same time, 176 patients with coronavirus died during the day.

It is noted that the incidence rates are breaking records for the third day in a row. As of March 29, the number of infections for the first time since autumn exceeded 32 thousand. In the next two days, more than 37 thousand and more than 39 thousand patients were reported.

According to the head of the Turkish Ministry of Health, Fahrettin Koja, about 75% are caused by the British coronavirus mutation.

Earlier, the world crossed the mark of 130 million COVID-infected people. Over the past 24 hours, 686,498 people have been confirmed infected. At the same time, 11,522 patients died.

It was also reported that the head of the WHO addressed the countries that have started COVID-vaccination. Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus hopes that by April 10, the process of immunization of the population against coronavirus will begin in all countries of the world.