News archive of April 2020

Seven more Turks have died in Germany from the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, local authorities said on April 30. 
The deaths were reported in Nuremberg, Essen, Munich and Mannheim.

The latest casualties bring the number of Turks who have died in the country from the pandemic to 130.

As part of Turkey's efforts to evacuate its nationals from abroad amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, it brought back a
total of 622 nationals on April 29. 

From Iraq, 289 Turkish nationals were airlifted to Turkey's central city of Eskişehir.

Meanwhile, a total of 333 were flown in from Russia, arriving at the Ordu-Giresun Airport in northern Turkey.

Turkey on April 29 slammed a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom which recommended the U.S. government include Turkey on its "Special Watch List" (SWL) for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.

Turkey may reopen schools on June 1 if normalization from the novel coronavirus pandemic proceeds as planned, the country's national education minister said on April 29. 

"If the normalization process continues as expected, we would open schools on June 1," Ziya Selçuk said in a live interview with CNN Turk.

A legislative act is to provide for the extension of the suspension of labor contracts for companies harmed by the coronavirus containment measures until May 31. Thursday would mark the end of the first phase of the measure, which concerned enterprises that were ordered by the government to close on March 13.

Turkey is facilitating the supply of medical aid to northwestern Syria to cope with a potential outbreak of the novel coronavirus, U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock told the Security Council on April 30. 

Turkey on April 29 slammed a statement by the European External Action Service on the recent terrorist attack by the YPG/PKK in Afrin, northwestern Syria.

Fahrettin Altun, the country's communications director, said on Twitter that the press release by the European Union's diplomatic service shows the union still has not adopted the right stance in the fight against terrorism.

A team of 42 doctors and nurses from Romania's Defence Ministry and Health Ministry will leave for Republic of Moldova to bolster the medical teams in the neighbouring country in the fight against COVID-19.

Interior Minister Marcel Vela admitted on Wednesday that the state of emergency could be replaced after 15 May with a state of alert at national level. He told a broadcast on Realitatea Plus private television station that the purpose of this demarche is to protect public health. "Yes, a state of alert might follow next.

"Disclosure of personal data, recording sensitive information, or storing people's profiles on unauthorized servers are some of the risks that go hand in hand with the use of video-conferencing tools," says Skopje-based cybersecurity practitioner Daniel Trenchov.