People flock to stores, bakeries before lockdown
ISTANBUL
Almost immediately afterward the 48-hour curfew thousands of people in Istanbul, Ankara and other stores flocked to markets and bakeries still open for last-minute shopping on April 10.
Roads in both cities were also full of traffic, with long queues forming outside off-licenses, grocery stores and banks.
Turkish officials rushed to reassure citizens that the lockdown did not affect basic necessities and that it would only last 48 hours.
The ministry said that bakeries, pharmacies, emergency call centers, gas stations, and postal delivery companies would remain operational.
Staff at newspapers, radio stations and television networks would also be exempt, it added.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu insisted "this is not a normal curfew" and would end by April 12 night, state broadcaster TRT Haber reported.
"People are in a panic and I find this normal but this panic is not necessary," Soylu added.
Presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun urged citizens via Twitter "to comply with this weekend’s lockdown without panicking."
