Turkey to impose four-day lockdown as of Saturday: Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that a lockdown would be imposed starting on Saturday and ending after Tuesday, May 19, which is a national holiday.

Ankara has imposed lockdowns in major cities over the past four weekends, as well as on national holidays to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

Speaking after a virtual cabinet meeting, Erdoğan said intercity travel restrictions on nine more cities -- including Adana, Diyarbakır, Mardin, Trabzon, Ordu, Denizli, Kahramanmaraş, Şanlıurfa, Tekirdağ -- had been lifted, as Turkey gradually eases measures taken against the coronavirus.

The restrictions on the three largest cities, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, remain in place.

Quarantine has been lifted in 300 settlements, while it continues at 112 locations, Erdoğan said in a televised address following a cabinet meeting in Istanbul.

People over 65 years will be allowed to leave their homes, remaining within walking distance and wearing masks, on May 17 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. local time (0800-1400GMT), he said.

Children under 14 years will be allowed out on May 20 and 22 during the same hours, also within walking distance and wearing masks, he added.

Erdoğan also added that a National Solidarity Campaign to raise money to fight the virus and its impact had netted some 2 billion Turkish liras ($282 million) in donations.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 187 countries and regions. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed over 283,500 people worldwide, with total infections more than 4.13 million, while recoveries surpassed 1.42 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.