Success attainable in the anti-virus fight despite the government!

The Interior Ministry announced a curfew lasting two days from 21.45 hours on Friday evening. The aim was to prevent people from coming onto the street and congregating thereby spreading the coronavirus!   

However, with two hours intervening between the announcement of the curfew and its implementation, people thronged to general stores and bakeries. General stores, supposed to be closed at that time, opened (or were made to do so) and the time was filled with the flouting of all manner of anti-virus measures, not least safe distancing. It would not fall far short of the mark to say, “In the name of countering the virus, the most ideal environment for the virus to spread was created on Friday April 10.”

In face of the huge scandal the decision engendered, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who, having announced the curfew, said this decision had been taken in line with the President’s orders, was obliged to say, “We took the decision as the Interior Ministry.” Moreover, Soylu, saying, “I accept all the criticism and insults. We were unable to foresee such a development,” leapt into the fray, thus protecting the President!

THE MOST HUSH-HUSH CURFEW IN TURKEY’S HISTORY

Of course, the question must have immediately posed itself to all and sundry, “Can Soylu or the ministry take such a decision without the President’s order or awareness?”

However, it has emerged that:

•    the Scientific Advisory Board created to combat the coronavirus,
•    Health Minister Koca, who heads the Scientific Advisory Board, and
•    metropolitan and sub-provincial mayors, who have first-degree responsibility for implementing this decision and meeting the most basic needs of the populace, not least urban transport, during the curfew,

were totally unaware of the curfew Interior Minister Soylu and the ministry had decided on. 

In fact, we can add here, placing “faith” in Minister Soylu’s latest pronouncement, that the President had no knowledge of the curfew, either!

This state of affairs surely shows that this latest curfew was a curfew that will go down in history as the “most hush-hush curfew” in Turkey’s history, periods of martial law included. Indeed, this curfew deserves to go down in history as Turkey’s first curfew under which newspaper distribution was rendered impossible!

Let us recall that going down in history is not of course always praiseworthy.

POPULAR MISTRUST IN GOVERNMENT’S DECISIONS

The crony media is criticizing the people who ventured onto the street, taking criticism to the extent, “Would you have died if you had gone hungry for two days?” It will be no surprise if the coming days see this criticism taken as far as conspiracy theories whereby the “thronging onto the streets” was the “opposition’s organized initiative,” and the consequential opening of investigations!

Academics, above all sociologists, social psychologists, political scientists and educationalists, and politicians attribute the reaction prompted by the curfew to “popular mistrust in the government’s decisions.” They attribute this to the thinking that decisions taken within the anti-coronavirus fight are inadequate, decisions have been taken without being properly thought through and, moreover, the government will be unable to meet the basic needs of the populace if the curfew is extended.

Sight must naturally not be lost of the effect of the political-social environment created by the Erdoğan administration’s stoking up of sectarianism even in the face of an epidemic and prohibiting CHP municipalities’ donation campaigns, and the inability, entering the annuls as a historic blunder, for the distribution of masks to be organized despite the passage of more than one month since the first virus case.

QUARANTINE NOT CURFEW!

We saw one aspect of the consequences of this environment with the curfew. 

In our country, the opposition as much as the administration is keen on prohibitions, especially curfews. For weeks, opposition spokespersons have been egging on the government with talk of a curfew.

However, in listing anti-coronavirus measures, the Scientific Advisory Board and scientific circles having a degree of awareness what is going on in the world are speaking of a partial or general quarantine, not a curfew.

Quarantine is one of the most effective measures with the basic aim of preventing disease transmission by reducing disease-transmitting interpersonal physical relations to a minimum while at the same time including measures for meeting basic needs. Hence, the success of quarantine is conditional on the halting of all work apart from manufacturing and services having basic requirements as their output and the meeting of all of citizens’ economic, social and psychological basic needs in this process.

For example, if the Scientific Advisory Board decides on a quarantine, the government, local authorities, neighbourhood heads, trade unions, labour organizations, various social organizations, political parties, estate and apartment administrations and people as individuals will bring forth the measures they will take from their own standpoint and assume such responsibilities as cooperation and solidarity among them dictates for the success of the quarantine. 

Consequently, our understanding from mention of quarantine is of this being a medical measure, while from that of curfew is of it being a law-enforcement one.

The government’s practices, with mask distribution and the curfew topping all else, clearly show that, if Turkey is to succeed in combatting the coronavirus, this can only be in spite of the measures this government takes!

(Translated by Tim DRAYTON)