Turkey to ease coronavirus restrictions on June 1

Rahshan Saglam
Press TV, Istanbul

Following a weekly cabinet meeting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced late on Thursday that Turkey will ease the restrictions imposed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The normalization process will include the lifting of a travel ban between Turkish provinces.

According to the plan, civil servants will go back to work as of June 1st. Restaurants, cafes, beaches, day care centers and parks will also open the same day.

Turkey has already eased the lock-down measures. Worshipers held the first Friday prayers in more than two months in the country, while strict measures were in place to protect them, as they had to wear face masks and practice social distancing.

But, as the Turkish president explained, some other restrictions need to remain in place to curb the spread of the virus, including restrictions on the movement of those over 65 and those under 18 years of age.

Turkey reported about one thousand new coronavirus cases and 34 deaths on Thursday, down from some 5000 daily cases and 120 deaths at the peak of the outbreak in April.

Some here believe it’s too early to ease coronavirus restrictions. But others say it is about time for life to get back to normal and breathe life into economy.

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