CHP slams gov’t over handling of pandemic

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) spokesperson Faik Öztrak has criticized the government's way of handling the normalization process in Turkey and the vaccination program amid the pandemic.

"A new easing period is now expected, but it is still unclear how the opening will be," he said on May 31 at a press conference.

The CHP official was elaborating on the new easing phase of COVID-19 restrictions, which were discussed at a cabinet meeting on May 31 and slated to be in effect from June 1 onwards.

Following tighter restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government announced a planned normalization process to begin from June 1 onwards.

After the daily coronavirus cases and the deaths from COVID-19 climbed to record highs in mid-April, Turkey imposed a partial lockdown, which lasted between April 29 and May 17. Even after the lifting of partial lockdown, many restrictions, such as weeknight and weekend curfews, have been still in place. Restaurants and cafes were closed, only providing takeaway and delivery services.

Shopkeepers, cafes, restaurants and other small-scale enterprises were still unaware of how they will reopen their businesses on June 1 because the government is yet to announce the details, Öztrak said.

"Uncertainty persists," he said, noting that the uncertainty was valid for the vaccination program too.

"The problem for the vaccination continues. The [health] minister gives numbers of the jabs to be delivered, but the vaccines have yet to arrive. Particularly there is a problem in the delivery of Sinovac vaccines," he stated.

It has been five months since Turkey rolled out its vaccination effort against the coronavirus but there is still an absence of a...