Turkey announces nationwide curfew during Eid al-Fitr holidays

NEWS 18.05.202020:46
Pavel Golovkin / POOL / AFP

Turkey will be under a nationwide four-day curfew for the Eid al-Fitr holiday between May 23-26 as a part of pandemic measures, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in a speech Monday.

The celebration of Eid al-Fitr, called Eid for short, marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and is usually celebrated in large family gatherings and through communal holiday prayers at neighbourhood mosques.

“I hope that after the holiday, we will not need to have such restrictions,” Erdogan said.

As a part of the normalization process, starting on May 29, some mosques that meet requirements in the country will be allowed to hold communal prayers for two out of the five daily prayers required for Muslims, according to Erdogan.

Turkey allowed shops, malls and hairdressers to reopen last week.

Turkey will continue its age-specific lockdown, prohibiting people over the age 65 and below the age of 20 from leaving their homes. The age groups will continue to be allowed out on specified days as a part of the new normalization process, Erdogan said.

The 2019-2020 education year has been concluded and schools will resume in September. Kindergartens and nurseries, however, will reopen on June 15, Erdogan said.