Over the implementation of a two-day curfew in major Turkish cities to tackle the Coronavirus outbreak, Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Twitter on Sunday that he was resigning from his post.
Turkey announced the weekend lockdown late on Friday, but in the brief time before it went into effect many people rushed out to buy food and drink in the country’s commercial hub Istanbul, a city of 16 million people, and other cities.
“Although in a limited period of time, the incidents that occurred ahead of the implementation of the curfew was not befitting with the perfect management of the outbreak process,” Soylu said.
Nevertheless, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday refused the resignation of his interior minister over his handling of an abrupt nationwide lockdown that led to panic buying.
Suleyman Soylu’s resignation had not been accepted, said a statement from Erdogan. “He is going to continue to carry out his functions,” he added.
Soylu came in for fierce criticism after a 48-hour nationwide shutdown to counter the spread of the Coronavirus was announced on Friday night with just two hours’ notice, sparking panic-buying.
Turkey’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen above 1,100, with more than 50,000 confirmed cases since first patient diagnosed a little over a month ago.
If his resignation was accepted by President Tayyip Erdogan, Soylu would have been the second Turkish minister to leave his post since the Coronavirus pandemic struck.
Transport minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan was removed two weeks ago after the ministry drew criticism for holding a tender amid the outbreak to prepare to build a huge canal on the edge of Istanbul.
