Turkey to ease COVID-19 restrictions post-Eid holiday

ANKARA

Turkey will gradually ease lockdown restrictions after the Eid holiday as coronavirus cases and deaths continue to decline nationwide, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 12.

“Having taken the pandemic under control, we are going to taking normalization steps in a controlled manner after the fest,” President Erdogan said, releasing a video message on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

“Good days are ahead even though we are having a bitter holiday due to the problems caused by the pandemic,” he stated.

Erdoğan recalled that last Eid, Turkey was hoping to overcome COVID-19, but the new waves of coronavirus worldwide in the following months affected the country.

He said that restrictions became a necessity with rising rates of cases and deaths, as the country is under full lockdown until the end of the Eid holiday on May 17.

“Just as we turned Turkey from a country which was fragile politically, economically and socially 20 years ago into a country which today makes its words heard in its region and the world, we will also resolve the current problems in the same manner,” he stated.

Erdoğan also said that they were determined to ensure that Turkey takes its rightful place in the global political and economic system that would be reshaped after the pandemic.

Through the government’s relief packages, they have extended a hand to the segments adversely affected by the pandemic measures and to every citizen of ours experiencing troubles, the president added.

The government has taken every step and provided every assistance to support production, employment, growth and development, he said, adding, “Nonetheless, we know that there are still citizens who experience troubles, with their incomes declining and their businesses disrupted. We will resolve their problems as soon as possible.”

“It is an undeniable fact that behind almost every incident occurring in our region lies the intention to deprive Turkey of its gains and stop it from achieving its goals,” he said. They would not “leave the ground to those who exploit even the pandemic,” Erdoğan asserted.