Tourists in Turkey can move freely but locals are locked-down

Thursday, December 17, 2020

When in Rome, behave like the Romanians. But when you’re in Turkey, do whatever you can but only if you are a visitor from outside. As per the recent reports, just like many other countries, Turkey has been experiencing a rise in COVID cases, and to make things normal, Istanbul instituted a lockdown only on two days, between 9.00 pm on Fridays and 5.00 am on Mondays.

However, this lockdown does not apply to any foreign tourists — it’s for the locals only. As per the New York Times report, majority of museums remained open for visitors, and hotel restaurants remained opened, but only for guests. In fact, police kept an eye on the lockdown and checked IDs to make sure locals stayed at home. Anyone found deviating from the norm was fined heavily.

The Insider report mentions that as Turkey is experiencing a huge increase in cases of corona, tourists entering the country remain uninfluenced.

Turkey is against tourist quarantine or even to show negative test results. It reopened its borders in June. As the US Embassy and Consulate in Turkey explained that on arrival, tourists are checked for symptoms and must self-isolate, if suspected of having COVID-19, the ground reality is different. As it is understood that the government is desirous to keep its tourism functional, some locals are not pleased with the developments whatsoever.

To quote a Istanbul travel guide, “People are not happy. They think that there should be a lockdown for everyone. The tourists are bringing more cases. The government doesn’t care about cases. They just want people to just come here and spend some money.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the meantime, has cautioned that “travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19”. It has suggested that people should stay at home as much as possible.

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