Main opposition CHP leader criticizes ‘lack of strategy’ in Turkey’s fight against COVID-19

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu criticized the government for not having a strategy for its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming that the government was making daily decisions.

“One can see a state that is governing daily. When the pandemic caused by coronavirus emerged, each country came up with a strategy. What is our strategy?” he said in a televised interview with HaberTürk broadcaster.

He said the United States had introduced a plan to fund every household where American citizens had to stay at home. Turkey’s strategy began with saving the airline companies, he said, pointing to tax discounts on flights when the first case of the coronavirus was announced in the country.

“What I mean by a strategy is what you will do in health, unemployment, what you will do, for poverty. If there is nothing to do about these three areas, you have no strategy,” he said.

The government is not “able to take further measures because they’ve finished all the money,” in Turkey, he stated.

An “environment of chaos” emerged in Turkey after the outbreak and the government was not able to fully control the situation, the CHP leader stated. The government mishandled the arrival of umrah pilgrims as they came in without being placed in quarantine and was late to close the country’s borders, Kılıçdaroğlu said.