OPINION: Erdogan  abandons Turkey to the ravages of Covid-19

With 59,187 news cases and 273 deaths today, Turkey is on her way to catch India and Brazil at the top of the Covid-19 league.  Medical experts are unanimous that nothing short of a month-long nation-wide lockdown AND a very swift vaccination campaign could flatten the transmission curve. In Istanbul and Ankara, emergency and Covid-19 wards and ICU units are fully occupied, as the media headlines pictures of an ambulance traveling the city with an acute patient looking for a hospital to admit him.  (Cover photo)

 

An AKP member told Reuters that today’s cabinet meeting would witness determined new measures to restrict mobility to combat the raging epidemic. Erdogan would have none of it.  He does not wish to spend Treasury funds on the unemployed and near-insolvent service establishments. He will need it to start his pet Canal Istanbul project this summer. Also, his constituency doesn’t want to be holed up in their houses during the holly month of Ramadan.

 

Therefore, making a mockery of medical science and respect for human life, he  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.

 

 

What are these “new measures”?

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.

 

 

WATCH:  How Erdogan Killed the Turkish Economy in 10 Days?

 

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.  This is a regulation  which had been announced two weeks ago to go into effect in Ramadan.

 

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 19.16 million coronavirus vaccine jabs across the country.

 

Over 11.47 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.

 

The campaign has slowed down to a snail’s pace, as vaccine stocks, estimated around 20-22 mn (no exact data is published by Ministry of Health) are running out.  According to dissident new sites, up to 150K doses of BioNTech jabs are or could be spoilt because of no-shows to vaccine appointments.

 

 

WATCH:  Canal Istanbul: The greatest of all White Elephants

 

Health Minister Koca now claims 30 million doses of BioNTech or enough to immunize 15 mn out of a population of 84 mn will arrive in June, which can’t be independently confirmed.

 

Last year, similar curfews NEVER eased the pandemic. Instead, to save the tourism season, the administration began lying about daily case data.    As a result, the virus spread freely throughout the Turkey in summer, also infecting mainly Russian and German tourists.

 

This year, Russia and Germany already took measures to prevent their citizens from traveling to Turkey.  With no end in sight to the outbreak, other countries could follow their example, depriving Turkey of FX income of up to $20 bn.

 

There is a single dominant reason Erdogan refuses to hear medical advice when keeping the economy open. He wants to old the groundbreaking ceremony for Canal Istanbul this summer, for which he will need to use up all the funds in the Treasury.

 

He doesn’t have a penny to spend on extended social welfare benefits or cash aid to nearly-insolvent companies.

 

As the Turkish adage goes, “the weak will die, the rest shall march with us to the Grand Opening of the Canal Istanbul.

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Published By: Atilla Yeşilada

GlobalSource Partners’ Turkey Country Analyst Atilla Yesilada is the country’s leading political analyst and commentator. He is known throughout the finance and political science world for his thorough and outspoken coverage of Turkey’s political and financial developments. In addition to his extensive writing schedule, he is often called upon to provide his political expertise on major radio and television channels. Based in Istanbul, Atilla is co-founder of the information platform Istanbul Analytics and is one of GlobalSource’s local partners in Turkey. In addition to his consulting work and speaking engagements throughout the US, Europe and the Middle East, he writes regular columns for Turkey’s leading financial websites VATAN and www.paraanaliz.com and has contributed to the financial daily Referans and the liberal daily Radikal.