Turkey denies state of emergency amid virus outbreak, data reveals a different story
-
Roshan Amiri
- . March 19, 2020
- . Update: March 19, 2020 9:14 am
There is a massive corona virus outbreak in Turkey, and the government authorities have been accused of hiding the exact figures. On Tuesday, the head of Turkey’s Communications Directorate Fahrettin Altun called those accusations baseless and mere rumours. Altun told Anadolu Agency that the nation has not declared any state of emergency, curfew or travel restrictions amid the coronavirus outbreak,
He said, “Such comprehensive restrictive steps are not on our agenda.”
Altun said that the measures taken against coronavirus continue in “a very transparent, determined and rational manner.”
“With the awareness that we have a responsibility to protect the health of our citizens as well as their freedom, in this struggle that we are carrying out under the leadership of our [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip Erdogan], we ask not to believe any news, information or rumors that have not been confirmed by official sources,” he said.
As per the sources, the Turkish government has been trying to cover up the number of virus victims. The authorities did not announce that a case infected with corona was discovered in the Milas area of Mugla state, which was detected some time ago. A local doctor from Milas who tried to warn people was attacked by Turkish security personnel and was abstained from sharing any such information.
Besides, a case of a company located in the Turkish region of Adrena surfaced, which was shutdown for several days to be cleared due to the outbreak of coronavirus. But the authorities never let this news become public.
Turkey is secretly sending the victims of the deadly virus to the neighbouring European nations, Italy in particular. It was found that a number of Turks tried to transport about 500 illegal migrants to Italy on boats. These boats which were caught and were recognised as they carried Turkish flag. These boats had departed from the Chanagla region in western Turkey.
