- Burak Bekdil
- April 23, 2020
- Paper No. 1539
The Erdoฤan government in Turkey has banned fundraising efforts to fight the coronavirus in municipalities controlled by the opposition. It has frozen the bank accounts of the city of Istanbul and of soup kitchens, shut down hastily constructed coronavirus field hospitals, and cut off free bread distributionโall in opposition-controlled areas. The pandemic has forcefully reminded Turks how divided they remainโa division that is stopping them from coming together to stem a potential catastrophe that is national, not ideological.