No curfew needed if everyone abides by rules: Minister

Turkey will not "need to" impose a full-on curfew if every citizen abides by recent rules introduced, the interior minister has said.

Speaking in an interview with a private broadcaster, Süleyman Soylu said that more drastic measures may not be needed if everybody declares their own "emergency rule."

"We are all witnessing the spread of the outbreak and the situation it will create. We have measures and steps we need to take," Soylu said.

"If all of our citizens declare their own emergency rule, a more superior precaution may not even be needed. But if the situation takes the rapid spread to another point, more different measures might be needed," he added.

At the weekend, Turkey imposed a partial curfew on citizens aged over 65 or with chronic diseases and created groups to meet their needs in a bid to stem the spread of the outbreak among the most vulnerable.

"We took really important decisions for [citizens] aged over 65 and took measures for their health. We held meetings on how to eliminate the difficulties of our citizens," Soylu said.

"This virus has spread from the Umrah [pilgrimage] and from abroad. The [citizens] aged over 65 are at the risk group. [But] the decisions [we] took were deemed as positive by our nation," he said.

The minister also said that some circles are exploiting the partial curfew imposed on the elderly.

After the curfew was imposed, several videos of mistreatment of the elderly went viral on social media, stirring outrage. A day before Soylu's interview, a man was briefly detained after posting a video in which he intimidates an elderly citizen by pretending to be a policeman.

Soylu said that the ministry has detected 1,748 social media accounts who are posting videos...