TÜİK’s latest data raise eyebrows over COVID death counts

ISTANBUL

The latest data published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have raised many eyebrows as the figure officially declared during the COVID-19 pandemic period in 2021 does not match, with the new data revealing 128,000 unexplained deaths, a journalist from the daily Hürriyet has stated.

During the crucial COVID-19 pandemic phase, suspicions over the data announced by the Health Ministry on the number of people who lost their lives due to the virus were accurate were mounting.

The ministry was the target of criticism as there were claims that the number was much higher than the ministry announced.

Nationwide debates sparked over the issue as there were claims that official COVID-death counts announced every night did not match the information gathered from the hospitals and health workers.

Though TÜİK’s data, published every year, can be a crucial reference in terms of the accuracy of the death numbers, the institution did not publish the death statistics in both 2020 and 2021, the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, Sedat Ergin, a journalist from the daily Hürriyet, stated that death statistics published in recent weeks by TÜİK revealed that the normally straight line of death numbers has suddenly increased significantly during the 2020-2021 pandemic period.

According to this, when the average number of deaths occurring in the country every year is calculated, it is shown that 211,000 people died above the average during this period.

After subtracting the ministry’s official coronavirus-related death figures from this number, there are still more than 128,700 “extra deaths.”

“In this case, we can conclude that the difference is significantly caused by COVID-19, but these cases were not registered as deaths caused by the virus, and as a result, the public could not find out the actual figure,” Ergin stated.

“When the truth finally came out with the delayed announcement of TÜİK, it became clear that those who said that the death figures were reflected incompletely to the public were right in their suspicions.”

“These announced figures make it necessary for us to reconsider all assessments regarding the COVID-19 outbreak,” Ergin added.