Istanbul

Turkey's health minister on April 22 refuted allegations in a recent New York Times article on the death toll in Istanbul from the novel coronavirus.
Speaking at a news conference following a Coronavirus Science Board meeting, Fahrettin Koca said the newspaper's claim that Turkey is hiding the number of deaths from the coronavirus is "fiction solely based on anti-Turkey bias."

Turkey has demonstrated "its power of standing on its own feet" at a time when international organizations have "lost their sense" over the novel coronavirus pandemic, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 20.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has shared pictures of horses that were once used for horse-drawn carriages on Istanbul's Princes' Islands, saying they were being fed regularly despite the outbreak.

Dolphin swims past a fishing boat off the coast of Karaköy, Istanbul on April 16, 2020. (AA Photo)

People hit the streets for shopping and catching some sun ahead of a 48-hour curfew to be imposed in 31 provinces of Turkey and that will impact 64 million residents.

The Interior Ministry has declared that bakeries, pharmacies as well as private and public health care institutions will be open during the lockdown.

Under the new legislation, the (TWF) will now be able to buy or to become partners with companies facing difficulty due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkey's Parliament on April 16 passed the bill prepared by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party to cushion the virus' impact on economic and social life.

Turkey's historical Kemeraltı Bazaar, and its surrounding area, has been added to the temporary UNESCO World Heritage List.

The vibrant bazaar in the Aegean city of İzmir dates back to the 17th century. For tourists, it is a smaller version of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar.

Turkish bibliophiles have been buying novels mostly since a partial lockdown came on March 16, according to data shared by the Istanbul Statistics Office, one of the newly established departments of the municipality.

The office shared the statistics of 100,000 books purchased online from Istanbul Bookstore.

Turkish people visited over 800,000 times the virtual museums in the country during a period when museum buildings are closed to visitors as part of measures to mitigate the spread of novel coronavirus.

Some 13 large museums in Turkey have been visited 810,410 times online during the lockdown, the authorities from Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry told Anadolu Agency.

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.