“Turkey as a whole, now and without Turks,” reads a satirical billboard on the country’s Mediterranean coast. Two children run along the beach. And below is the explanation: “Do not worry, millions are in their homes.” The Turks have resorted to satire and irony to react to one ludicrous situation with lockdown measures, which will be valid until 17 May. Locals can only take to the streets when there is a great need, such as shopping at the supermarket or visiting a doctor. Apart from some professional groups and tourists. Tourists, on the other hand, have complete freedom of movement, she says in an extensive statement article the DW.
Istanbul is for tourists only
The result is recorded in surreal images and situations. A Turk in the Datka resort received a hefty fine for swimming. Instead, Ukrainian swimmers were undisturbed. Discrimination, as well as the ban on the sale of alcohol during the lockdown, has angered the Turkish population. These exceptions, however, bring some advantages for tourists: In the old city of Istanbul they have the area between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque at their exclusive disposal. There is even a police force that controls the entrance.
Unusually quiet, visitors hear the birds chirping and not the voices of vendors calling for customers or the noise of car traffic. All this with a spring background “I feel like I’m a great visitor to Istanbul,” says 34-year-old Dutchman Arif laughing. He bought his ticket a long time ago and wanted to return it due to the incarceration measures, as it is said, but now he is happy that he managed to come.
Artem, 28, from Ukraine, is excited. “It’s amazing,” he says. “I am with my girlfriend Karin for the first time in Turkey and we are glad that we decided to come during this lockdown period, because it is quieter. However, we understand that this is not easily accepted by the Turks. ” Behind the controversial measures is the Erdogan government’s attempt to bring the large number of cases under control and protect the wintering economy.
Mid April the daily number was over 60,000 infections in a country with the same number of inhabitants as in Germany. Some criticized the Turkish president for being in charge of the situation, because, among other things, party conferences were held in overcrowded halls in the past.
“As refugees in our own country”
Meanwhile, the number of cases has dropped to 20,000, according to official figures. Erdogan, of course, wants them to fall below 5,000 a day. And it is understandable why tourism decreased by 70% last year. Inflation of around 17% is pushing up food prices and most can no longer meet basic needs.
Last week during his visit to Berlin o Foreign Minister Mevut Tsavousoglu promised that by the end of May those working in the tourism sector will be vaccinated, causing outrage in Turkey, because, although the vaccination campaign started quickly, it is making a belly.
“We feel like refugees in our own country,” said Durukan, 22, who sells tickets to the city’s sights on the Galata Bridge. Many feel that as citizens of this country they are not taken seriously. Mostly the special treatment of tourists is something that angers some. “If it were not for this special arrangement, I would be unemployed, but it is not good for our health at all,” says Durukan.
“For 15 countries, the obligation for a negative PCR test upon entering the country has been abolished. But lockdown is unfair anyway. There are many exceptions. “If you know people in the services, you can very easily get a special permit and move freely.”
At the ferry station in Karakoy, a waiter throws fish on the coals, although there is a desert in the surrounding area. German tourists are rare, but there are Iranians and Ukrainians, he says. However, there is generally no traffic. His view of Lockdown is different. It supports the exceptions that apply to tourists and is not bothered by inclusion measures. He does not want to say a bad word about Erdogan.
“God bless him, the help he gives us is not rich, but the state shows interest.” In his view, the crackdown by the Lockdown measures does not separate tourists from locals, but those who have money and contacts, from those who are poor.
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