UPDATE - Turkey declares partial lockdown during Ramadan

UPDATE - Turkey declares partial lockdown during Ramadan

President Erdogan says new measures against virus will go into effect on Wednesday evening

UPDATES WITH FURTHER REMARKS

By Ahmet Gencturk and Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Tuesday announced a two-week partial lockdown to help curb a recent rise in the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting that lasted three hours, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the new measures against the virus would go into effect on Wednesday evening and continue for the first two weeks of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Among the new restrictions was an expanded weekday curfew start at 7.00 p.m. -- previously 9.00 p.m. -- and last until 5 a.m., during which inter-city travel will also be banned, excluding necessary and urgent situations.

Cafes, restaurants and teahouses will also only provide home-delivery and takeaway services, while wedding halls, sports centers and game halls will be closed until the end of the Eid holiday marking the end of Ramadan in the country.

On Jan. 14, Turkey began a mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19, starting with healthcare workers along with top officials to encourage public confidence in the vaccines.

According to the Health Ministry's official figures, Turkey has so far administered nearly 19.18 million coronavirus vaccine jabs across the country.

Over 11.48 million people to date have received their first doses of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, while second vaccine doses were given to nearly 7.69 million.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 2.95 million lives in 192 countries and regions.

Over 136.96 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now over 78 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins​​​​​.​​


- EU ties, accession

Erdogan said that during last week's official visit by top European officials to Turkey, he had discussed a variety of issues with EU Council head Charles Michel and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Among the agenda, topics were visa liberalization in the EU for Turkish nationals, along with Turkey's Customs Union with the bloc, the Eastern Mediterranean and 2016 migration agreement, according to the Turkish president, who said he hoped the visit would be a turning point for bilateral relations.

"As we've always said, Turkey has always been transparent and sincere in its relations with the EU," Erdogan said, adding that his country had taken steps to meet the required conditions for full EU membership, one by one.

He went on to argue that some countries had been granted membership in the bloc despite applying later than Turkey, which he said was ahead of many of these countries in terms of democratic and economic criteria.

Touching on the 2016 migration deal between Ankara and Brussels, Erdogan stressed that Turkey had fulfilled its commitments under the agreement, preventing an influx of irregular migration that would have paved the way for "serious political and economic crises" in Europe.

He also asserted that European countries had demonstrated their double standards towards Turkey by reacting to social unrest during the coronavirus pandemic in a way that "violated the principles of democracy and rule of law."

Turkey must be subjected to the same practices and processes as other countries that were granted membership in the EU, said the president, underlining that his country remains fully committed to membership in the union.


- Turkic Council

During the press conference, Erdogan said that in a virtual meeting the previous week with the leaders of Turkic Council member countries, they had discussed ways to boost cooperation on a number of issues such as health and trade.

"There are many countries seeking to join the Turkic Council, in addition to the [current] full and observer members. We see that it is time to turn this establishment into an international organization," he said, noting that the council was in need of a stronger institutionalization in line with its development and vision.

Barring delays caused by the pandemic, the council's eighth ordinary summit will be held in Turkey in November, according to the Turkish leader, who said Turkey would allocate a prestigious historical building for the council to meet its administrative needs.

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