Turkey eases stay-at-home measures for over-65s, under-18s

ANKARA

Turkey will relax stay-at-home measures for people over 65 years old and those under 18, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 9.

Around 7.5 million over-65s will now be able to go out every day from 10 am to 8 pm, Erdoğan said, relaxing a measure that had almost entirely forbidden them from going outside since March 21.

A similar prohibition imposed on under-18s on April 4 was also lifted, with the condition that young people still have to be with their parents when they are out, Erdoğan said.

Turkey has eased most of the restrictions brought in to stem the virus -- from reopening restaurants to allowing mass prayers at mosques -- but the president warned citizens must still wear masks outside and keep social distancing.

"We need to get ourselves used to the reality that the new normal will continue for a while more," he said.

Erdoğan said cinemas and theatres would reopen from July 1.

The president also said that the Turkish government will provide incentives to boost employment and support the industry to maintain export- and production-oriented growth to revive an economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkish scientists produce drug for COVID-19 treatment

Erdoğan announced that Turkish scientists successfully produced the drug Favipiravir, which is used in treating COVID-19.

"After the registration process of our Health Ministry is completed, the drug will be available," he said.

The drug was produced by scientists with the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBİTAK), Erdoğan added.

Erdoğan reiterates support for Libyan gov't

Erdoğan also reiterated his country's support for the Libyan government in its fight against renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

The descendants of Libya's anti-colonial hero "Lion of the Desert" Omar Mukhtar defeated at the gates of Tripoli "legionaries" sent from all over the world by "those would try to occupy" the country, he said.

“We will stand next to our Libyan brothers, not the putschists, not the imperialists,” Erdoğan said, referring to Haftar and his supporters.

Erdoğan underlined that in the coming period, Ankara would “continue to frustrate both domestic and foreign coup enthusiasts and lovers of terrorist organizations.”

"We'll continue to support our Libyan brothers until peace, tranquility and justice are established throughout Libya," he said.

Turkey will offer knowledge and experience in all areas from health to transportation, from energy to the defense to the benefit of the Libyan people, he added.

Following the ouster of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's new government was founded in 2015 under a political deal led by the UN.

The government and western parts of the country have been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with over 1,000 killed.

'Syrian regime increasing provocations'

Erdoğan also said that the Syrian regime was increasing provocations in northwest Syria's Idlib region and that Turkey would not allow it to become a conflict zone again.

On June 8 jets bombed several villages in the rebel-held region in the first such air strikes since a Turkish-Russian ceasefire deal over three months ago that halted major fighting.