Nearly 30,000 people violate curfews, weekend lockdowns

ANKARA

More than 29,000 people in Turkey violated weeknight curfews and full weekend lockdowns between Feb. 8 and Feb. 15, the country’s Interior Ministry has announced.

“The public largely followed the curfew and lockdown measures. But administrative and procedural actions were taken against a total of 29,048 people for violating the rules,” the ministry said in a statement on Feb. 15.

As part of the government’s measures to check the spread of COVID-19, Turkey has been implementing curfews and lockdowns since early December 2020.

Weeknight curfews are in effect from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next morning, while weekend lockdowns begin at 9 p.m. on Fridays and end at 5 a.m. on Mondays.

The first full weekend lockdown took place from Dec. 4 until Dec. 7, 2020. Turkey also imposed an 80-hour lockdown on New Year’s Eve to prevent large gatherings for celebrations.

“Until the fight against the pandemic ends and normalization begins, we have to maintain social distancing and wear face masks,” the ministry stated.