Second day of curfew set amid university admission exams

ANKARA

Limited curfew across the country was imposed in Turkey on June 27 when university admission exams were held and will be imposed on June 27 as well, on the second day of exams. 

Earlier in June, a limited curfew was imposed in all provinces as eighth-graders took the High School Transition System (LGS) exam on June 20.

The first phase of the Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) for university entrance was held on June 27 and curfew was effective between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on June 27. 

The second curfew will be from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on June 28, during the second phase of the exam. 

The limited curfews are part of the measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus diseases.

People taking the exam and using public transport to get there as well as relatives dropping off the students will be exempt, the interior minister announced in an earlier statement.

During the lockdown, bakeries, markets, grocery stores, and butchers will be open, it said.

“The Health Ministry’s Science Board made a recommendation in order to create the necessary conditions for the exams. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered a limited curfew to prevent crowds forming on the streets during examination hours and spare the day only for the youth,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter on June 18.

The first curfew in Turkey was declared April 11 and April 12 and was followed by subsequent ones in the recent weeks.

However, the government recently ended the lockdowns as part of its normalization program.

Turkey is not experiencing the second wave of the coronavirus but is still facing the impact of the first wave, Koca said on June 24, adding that the government was not considering imposing countrywide curfews.

“Maybe province or district-specific lockdowns could be announced,” Koca said following a meeting of the Health Ministry’s Science Board.