istanbul metropolitan municipality

After a 48-hour curfew in 30 large provinces and the Black Sea province of Zonguldak to stem the spread of novel coronavirus was lifted early April 13, citizens who wanted to meet their urgent needs took to the streets.

The postponement of the Olympic games due to the novel coronavirus pandemic has left badminton players in limbo, as the international federation was going to announce the official list of the qualified athletes in April.

The 26-year-old Neslihan Yiğit, Turkey's first badminton player to make it to the games, in 2012 is one of them.

The water level in Istanbul's dams declined as much as 31 percent from a year ago as the city that is home to some 16 million is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic.

Experts warn the residents that further decline in water levels may cause problems in the summer season because personal hygiene is the most effective protection against the virus.

Works have commenced for the remaining part of the Üsküdar Square Expansion Project, which was stopped three years ago when cracks occurred on the walls of the Şemsi Ahmet Paşa Mosque in Istanbul's Üsküdar district, built in 1580 by the prominent Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has warned that the city's elderly were still widely using the city's public transport despite warnings to stay home amid the coronavirus outbreak.

He noted that the number of elderly people — aged above 60 — who use the megacity's metro and inner-city bus networks, indeed declined by 54 percent over the past two weeks.

Istanbul's Pera Museum and Istanbul Research Institute (İAE) have opened their collections and periodicals to online access at Google Arts & Culture.

The notorious traffic congestion in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city by population, has eased over the past week amid the global coronavirus pandemic that is keeping residents away from the streets. 

A new tender has been held to select a company to carry out additional work to rehabilitate Kurbağalıdere, one of the central creeks in Istanbul's Kadıköy district on the Asian side.

Some 250 million Turkish Liras (around $39 million) have been spent over the past eight years to clean the highly polluted creek.

Burhan Demircan, nicknamed Burhan Pazarlama (Burhan Marketing), who has been hawking for 64 years in Istanbul's city lines ferries, passed away on March 13. He was 71.

Having received cancer treatment for a while, Demircan died at home at the age of 71 and was buried in Ihlamurkuyu Cemetery after a funeral prayer.

The International Filmmor Women's Film Festival on Wheels celebrates its 18th anniversary in seven cities with 46 films, interviews panels and workshops this year. The festival will kick off in Istanbul on March 16 and continue through May 10.