Turkey
Turkey's cities will reopen to public life after months of lockdown measures to conatin the spread of COVID-19. Photo: AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A coronavirus travel ban between Turkey's worst affected cities is being lifted while restaurants, cafes and sports facilities will reopen on June 1, the country's president said Thursday, under the next phase of plans to roll back pandemic restrictions.
Turkey will reopen schools, restaurants, cafes, beaches and most public spaces while implementing new distancing policies to adjust toward “a new normal,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a news conference following a weekly cabinet meeting. Mosques will allow congregations for two daytime prayers starting Friday.
Turkish Airlines announced it would resume domestic flights on June 4, and international flights on June 10, the national flag carrier said in a statement. The company, which carried more than 74 million passengers last year, had previously suspended all domestic and international flights as a public safety measure against the pandemic.
Turkey’s land border with Iraq was partially opened to travelers twice weekly starting from May 16.
The announcements come amid a drop in the number of reported daily COVID-19 deaths and infections in the past weeks, although some experts say the lifting of restrictions may be premature.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry announced a new, two-day curfew over the weekend in 15 of the country's worst-affected provinces, including Ankara and Istanbul.
Earlier Thursday, intercity train services resumed on a limited basis, with passengers being allowed on board only with a government-issued permission to travel and a code certifying they are not being monitored for a suspected COVID-19 infection. Travelers showing signs of illness would not be allowed onto trains, Turkish Transportation Minister Adil Karaismailoglu told the news conference.
Turkey's total number of confirmed infections has surpassed 160,000, with the Health Ministry announcing 1,182 new cases in the past 24 hours and 30 new deaths, raising the total COVID-19 fatalities to 4,461.
Turkey ranks tenth in an international tally by Johns Hopkins University for the number of cases. Experts believe infections globally could be much more than reported.
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