(TAN): Measures to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus are applicable for local residents in Istanbul, but not for tourists, a New York Times report said.
At a time when most European cities are under some form of lockdown, Istanbul, which is among Turkey’s most popular tourist destinations, has allowed tourists to explore the city freely while locals have to stay at home.
Residents were asked to stay at home last weekend as part of a strict curfew to check the resurgence of the virus between 2100 hours on December 4 and 0500 hours on December 7, but this ban did not apply to tourists who could explore museums, palaces and other places of interest that remained open.
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“Life is too short to stay at home for another year,” the report quoted Ana Nicolas, 53, a tourist from Madrid, Spain, as saying. Spain is under a nationwide curfew and state of emergency scheduled to last until early May next year. “We felt like animals locked in a cage for too long and we wanted to escape and see a new place with different energy and culture.”
“This year has been a complete write-off, especially for Istanbul. We’ll see if this effort to stay open for tourism will help bring more people in. It depends on how satisfied they are when they return home,” said Cuneyt Uygur, a Turkish tour guide based in Istanbul.
Mandy Miller, 26, from London, who traveled to Turkey for a week with her boyfriend, said, “Everybody makes such a fuss about the virus, but most people who have had it are fine…. We’ve got to just be brave and live as normal as we can.”
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Tulin Polat, 26, who was laid off from her waitressing job because of the lockdown measures, said, “I’m happy for tourists to visit my country, but when hospitals are full and people are dying, this is not an appropriate time to be adventurous.”
