People in Turkey complain about lack of bread distribution since start of the ban on movement

Istanbul – North-Press Agency

On Saturday morning, the complaints of Turkish and Syrian citizens increased, as they were not receiving bread that the Turkish government promised after imposing a 48-hour curfew on 31 provinces, including Ankara and Istanbul.

Residents of Istanbul told North-Press that what is being circulated on Turkish news sites or through social media platforms about the start of the distribution bread to civilians by police personnel or cars belonging to some civil society organizations "is not true at all."

Meltim Kaya, a Turkish citizen residing in Istanbul, said: "We have not received anything, neither bread nor anything else, and even my family and friends in different neighborhoods told me that they have not received any bread, sterilizers, or masks."

She indicated that there was no coordination between the Turkish government and the mayor of Istanbul, Akram Imamoglu, who was "also surprised by the curfew," and the lack of coordination resulted in the lack of basic materials reaching the homes of citizens, "but most importantly, the bread."

Syrian refugee, Omran Omran, denied any distribution of bread or basic materials by Turkish government institutions and related organizations, saying: “My house overlooks 3 streets, and I have not seen any car distributing bread to citizens in the neighborhoods."

Omran expected that only masks would be distributed, according to what the Turkish government promised, noting that "the government's turmoil was reflected in the level of services with the start of the curfew."

A number of Syrian refugees living in the southeastern province of Gaziantep denied any bread distribution in their areas. While some indicated that they were forced to violate the curfew "despite its seriousness", and face the security consequences and financial and judicial violations, they would leave their home in order to obtain bread.

On Saturday morning, Turkish media outlets said that "bread delivery cars roam the streets in order to deliver bread to homes in the 31 provinces which have been subjected to the curfew."

The Ministry of the Interior declared a state of curfew in a number of major cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, starting from midnight on April 10th to midnight April 12th 2020, causing chaos, congestion and gatherings in front