عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Turkey to Impose Four-day Curfew Starting May 16

Two men wearing face masks seen at the deserted Istiklal Street during curfew in Istanbul, Turkey. (EPA)
Two men wearing face masks seen at the deserted Istiklal Street during curfew in Istanbul, Turkey. (EPA)
TT
20
TT

Turkey to Impose Four-day Curfew Starting May 16

Two men wearing face masks seen at the deserted Istiklal Street during curfew in Istanbul, Turkey. (EPA)
Two men wearing face masks seen at the deserted Istiklal Street during curfew in Istanbul, Turkey. (EPA)

Turkey will impose a four-day partial curfew in 31 states beginning Friday midnight until the midnight of Tuesday, May 19, announced President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the counyry continues to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak.

"There will again be a lockdown in place on May 16-17-18 and 19," he said in an address to the nation following a weekly cabinet meeting on Monday.

Further, Erdogan said intercity travel restrictions on nine more cities had been lifted.

Starting next week, those aged 65 and above will be allowed to go outside from four to six hours on Sundays. Those under 20 will be allowed to go outside for six hours, twice per week.

He added that the hospitals, currently under construction, at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport and in Sancaktepe will help with medical tourism for people arriving from abroad.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said that international flights will gradually resume in June, noting that the country will contact 70 countries to relaunch air traffic in a bid to bring tourists back to Turkey.

Shopping centers reopened in Turkey on Monday after a 50-day shut down. Preventive measures have been introduced, including taking the temperature of shoppers before entering the mall. Anyone with a temperature above 38 will be directed to a medical center.

The opposition, however, criticized the reopening of malls while COVID-19 cases are still being registered and people are not abiding by preventive measures.

Turkey reported 55 deaths on Monday and 1,114 more infections. This raises the death toll to 3,841 and overall infections to 139,870.

Most Viewed

 
World

Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
TT
20
TT

Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran will react to any reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, without elaborating on what actions Tehran might take.

A French diplomatic source told Reuters last week that European powers would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran under the so-called "snapback mechanism" if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests.

The "snapback mechanism" is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.

"The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference, without giving further details.

The 2015 deal with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia and China - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - states that if the parties cannot resolve accusations of "significant non-performance" by Iran, the "snapback mechanism" process can be triggered by the 15-member UN Security Council.

"The European parties, who are constantly trying to use this possibility as a tool, have themselves committed gross and fundamental violations of their obligations under the JCPOA," Baghaei said.

"They have failed to fulfill the duties they had undertaken under the JCPOA, so they have no legal or moral standing to resort to this mechanism."

Western countries accuse Iran of plotting to build a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.

The United States pulled out of the deal in 2018 under the first administration of President Donald Trump, who called the agreement "weak".

Trump, whose second presidency began in January, has urged Tehran to return to nuclear negotiations on a new deal after a ceasefire was reached last month that ended a 12-day air war between Iran and Israel that destabilized the Middle East.

When asked if Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would meet with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, Baghaei said no date or location had been set for resuming the US-Iran nuclear talks.