İSTANBUL - The Governor’s Office has announced that the events and demonstrations to be held in İstanbul have been banned till the end of June. The novel coronavirus outbreak has been cited as the reason for the ban.
The Governor's Office of İstanbul has banned the demonstrations to be held in the city for a period of 15 days. İstanbul Provincial Public Health Assembly has taken a series of decisions to be in force till the end of June.
In line with these decisions, the visits to be held by political parties and unions shall take place in accordance with social distance rules.
The Assembly has also stipulated that the statements for the press to be held in İstanbul shall solely take place inside the party buildings or in front of these buildings on the condition that the number of participants does not exceed 50 persons and social distance rule is observed.
Marches and open-air meetings, mass greetings and similar other ceremonies will not be allowed in the city for 15 days "as it is foreseen that such events and demonstrations might lead to spread of the disease."
The Assembly has also decided that "with the aim of preventing any possible provocative actions and the spread of the epidemic disease, the groups that will mobilize to join possible demonstrations shall be restricted from entering and leaving the city in order to curb the disease."
The groups or persons who will participate in the events and demonstrations planned to be held in other provinces will also not be allowed. Similarly, the tents and stands to be set up at parks and gardens of İstanbul "in such a way to cause the spread of the disease" will not be permitted.
Those who do not abide by these measures will be subjected to administrative fines as per the Article 282 of the Law on Public Health and, in the event that the disobedience in question is considered to constitute a crime, a legal action will be taken against the related persons as per the Article 195 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).