​​​​​​​US voice: Calls for lockdown in Turkey with increasing Coronavirus outbreak

The Voice of America news agency said in a report that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's insistence on keeping factories and companies open during the coronavirus pandemic raises eyebrows among critics who say the move is evidence of the bankruptcy of the Turkish state.

Erdogan has resisted opposition demands to impose closures nationwide, saying that the wheels of the Turkish economy need to continue to circulate and on this basis the government imposed a partial curfew only on citizens over the age of 65 and under 20.

Turkey, which is already grappling with severe economic slowdown before the pandemic, has seen a significant decline in the lira since August 2018.

The opposition mayor of Istanbul insists on the necessity of imposing a strict curfew on Istanbul, the most populous city in Turkey, with a population of 16 million, and which has the majority of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Imam Oglu says that Istanbul is now the front lines of Turkey's battle against the virus, but he fears that too much time has been lost to rein in the pandemic.

"The cost of closing the largest city in Turkey may be very expensive, and it may reach the point that the government is unable to afford all of this," said Attila Yesilada, an analyst at Global Source Research Center.

"Tax revenues that is barely enough, and you are closing industries that are likely to have 4 and 5 million workers, even if the law does not impose it, morals and good governance will dictate that you pay some kind of compensation to these people so they do not starve or protest in the streets and go out Things are out of control. "

Yesilada said Erdogan's appeal last week for donations to help support those most affected by the pandemic also pointed to a lack of government funding.

For his part, one of the shop owners in Istanbul called Burak said, "I think our government has also fallen into a financially difficult situation, so I think it will extend the delay of the closure as much as possible, to buy time."

Burak said that the economy was basically weak before the pandemic.

T/S

ANHA