According to official figures, 1101 people have died of the viral disease Covid-19 in Turkey so far. The number of confirmed cases of infection has increased to 52,167.

On Friday evening, a two-day curfew was imposed in 31 cities with only two hours warning. This led to panic-like crowds of people in shops. Not even the Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoğlu of the CHP (Republican People’s Party), was informed of the measure in advance. Curfews had already been imposed on children and young people up to and including the age of 20, as well as on people over 65 and the chronically ill.

The AKP/MHP government is criticized widely for not introducing a curfew in the country to contain the spread of the virus, which people attribute to the grave economic situation the country is in.

HDP co-chairs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar accuse the Turkish government of incompetence. The governing coalition of AKP and MHP is not in a position to cope with the crisis, the party leaders said. Instead, the short-term announcement of the curfew has led to a faster spread of the pandemic: "The fact that the ban was imposed without allowing the people time to procure their needs has led to serious panic and chaos, with people unable to comply with the rules of distance."

The co-chairs of the HDP see the rash order as proof that the government is in a panic.

The human rights association IHD and the civil society association DTK (Democratic Society Congress) have expressed similar views. The latter stated that the AKP was apparently doing everything possible to speed up the spread of the corona virus.

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