Statement on the Supervision of Markets and Supermarkets by the Ministry of Interior (15/04/2020)

• In accordance with the General Sanitary Law and the relevant article of the Turkish Criminal Code, judicial or administrative proceedings were applied to the markets for those who do not provide service between 09.00-21.00 throughout the country, the number of customers is more than one-tenth of the total area served directly to the customer, and do not comply with the social distance rule inside and outside the market.

Statement by the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Services on additional measures regarding the Nursing Homes (14/04/2020)

• It has been stated that particular attention is paid not only to fever measurements, but also to hypothermia (body temperature below 36 degrees), and the number of respiration is followed in the follow-up forms of the elderly in nursing homes.
• In order to minimize the risk of contamination; 64.000.000 TL allowance has been sent to nursing homes for cleaning, Labouratories, medical supplies, medicines, and other special supplies.
• It has been stated that they have been carrying out all preventive measures quickly, including keeping the elderly returning from Umrah in quarantine for 14 days in a specially equipped household social service establishment and implementing a 14-day fixed shift practice in all private-official nursing homes.
• It has been stated that elderly people who will stay on leave with their relatives will not be charged to nursing homes during their leave.

Decision taken by the President (14/04/2020)

The people will be exempted from the first article of the Law on the Amendment of the Goods and Services Tariffs Produced by Public Institutions and Organizations and Certain Regulation numbered 4736 in order to benefit from:

• All kinds of personal protective equipment recommended for use against disease,
• Tests, kits and other equipment used in the diagnosis of the disease,
• Medicines provided centrally for use in the treatment of disease.

 This decision will come into force on the date of its publication, effective from 1 March 2020.

Statement of the President regarding the Curfew (13/04/2020)

• As in the previous week, the curfew will be imposed between 17 April 2020, 00:00, and 19 April 2020, 00:00.

• Businesses, enterprises, and institutions that will be open are as follows;

a) Bakeries and/or bakery licensed workplaces where bread production is made,

b) Workplaces where all health products and medical materials (including medical masks) are produced,

c) Public and private health institutions and organizations, pharmacies,

d) Public institutions and organizations required for the maintenance of compulsory public services (nursing home, elderly care home, rehabilitation centers, emergency call centers, etc.)

e) Fuel stations and veterinary clinics to be determined by governorships/district governorships, one for every 50,000 inhabitants,

f) Large facilities and businesses operating strategically in the natural gas, electricity and petroleum sectors (such as Tüpraş, thermal and natural gas conversion plants)

g) PTT, Cargo, etc. distribution companies,

h) Animal shelters, farms, and care centers

• People who are not subject to the curfew are as follows;

a- Managers, officers or employees of the “Open Office, Business and Institutions” included in the heading (2) of this circular,

b- TBMM employees,

c- Those who are in charge of ensuring public order and security,

d- Employees of emergency call centers,

e- Those who will perform and participate in funeral burials of their first degree relatives,

1. Those who are in charge of maintaining supply systems that should not be interrupted as electricity, water, natural gas, telecommunications, etc and eliminating their malfunctions,

g- Those who are in charge of domestic and international transportation in logistics for the transportation of products and/or materials,

h- Those working in newspaper, radio and television organizations,

i- Employees of social protection/care centers such as elderly nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, nursery, etc.

j- PTT, cargo and water distribution company employees,

k- Employees who work in the oven, cold storage depot of Iron and steel, glass sectors, etc

l- Employees who work in the harvest of agricultural and livestock products at risk of spoiling,

m- Vehicles and employees involved in the distribution of bread produced in bakeries,

n- Those who have an appointment for blood and plasma donation under the coordination of the Red Crescent.

Statement by the Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Authority (” BRSA”) (13/04/2020)

The ratio of the total amount of currency swaps, forwards, options, and other derivative transactions entered into by capital market institutions and banks with foreign residents (save for transactions conducted with their foreign credit institutions and financial subsidiaries that are subject to consolidation), where one leg of the transaction is foreign currency and the other leg is Turkish Lira and where the transaction is settled by the sale of Turkish Lira upon maturity, to the equity calculated as stated above shall not exceed:

• 1% for transactions with 7 days remaining until maturity,
• 2% for transactions with 30 days remaining until maturity, and
• 10% for transactions with 1 year remaining until maturity, on any calendar day.

The written approval of the BRSA for banks should be obtained for requests to cancel such purchase and sale transactions or for requests to extend the maturity date of these transactions before reaching the agreed maturity date for any reason.

Statement by the Capital Markets Board (“CMB”) (13/04/2020)

In accordance with the relevant announcements made by the CMB:

• The total amount of currency swaps, forwards, options, and other derivative transactions made by capital market institutions and banks with residents abroad (save for transactions conducted with their foreign credit institutions and financial subsidiaries that are subject to consolidation), where one leg of the transaction is foreign currency and the other leg is Turkish Lira and where the transaction will be settled by the purchase of Turkish Lira upon maturity, has been limited to 1% of the equity amounts listed in the capital adequacy tables prepared at the end of the previous month in accordance with the relevant capital adequacy regulations.

• This ratio will be monitored on a daily basis, new transactions will not be allowed until limit excesses are eliminated, and transactions of a similar nature will not be renewed upon maturity.

• The ratio of the total amount of currency swaps, forwards, options, and other derivative transactions entered into by capital market institutions and banks with foreign residents (save for transactions conducted with their non-resident credit institutions and financial subsidiaries that are subject to consolidation), where one leg of the transaction is foreign currency and the other leg is Turkish Lira and where the transaction is settled by the sale of Turkish Lira upon maturity, to the equity calculated as stated above shall not exceed:

• 1% for transactions with 7 days remaining until maturity,
• 2% for transactions with 30 days remaining until maturity, and
• 10% for transactions with 1 year remaining until maturity, on any calendar day.

• The written approval of the CMB for capital market institutions should be obtained for requests to cancel such purchase and sale transactions or for requests to extend the maturity date of these transactions before reaching the agreed maturity date for any reason.

The Turkish Republic Ministry of Interior issued a circular on April 10, 2020, instating a curfew for 31 provinces (10/04/2020)

Between 10 April 2020 at 24:00 and 12 April 2020 at 24:00, all citizens within the borders of 30 cities and Zonguldak province will not be able to go out on the streets except for the specified exceptions.

Open workplaces, businesses, and institutions:

• Bakery or bakery licensed establishments where bread production is made
• Workplaces where all health products and medical materials (including medical masks) are produced,
• Public and private health institutions and organizations, pharmacies,
• Necessary public institutions and organizations (nursing home, elderly care home, rehabilitation centers, emergency call centers, fidelity social support units, etc.) for the maintenance of compulsory public services.
• Fuel station and veterinary clinics to be determined by governorships/district governorships, one for every 50,000 inhabitants,

Large facilities and businesses operating strategically in the natural gas, electricity and petroleum sectors (such as Tüpraş, thermal and natural gas conversion plants)

The Ministry of Commerce published regulations about the amendment on the Consumer Arbitration Committees Regulation (10/04/2020)

The following provisional article has been added to the Consumer Arbitration Committees Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 27/11/2014 and numbered 29188:

• “Suspension of meetings and certain deadlines
• In order to prevent loss of rights that may arise in relation to the working procedures and principles of consumer arbitration committees due to the presence of COVID-19 pandemic disease in our country;
• The meeting of consumer arbitration committees, which convenes not less than twice a month, in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 13, shall stop from the date of entry into force of this article,
• The periods given for the submission of the information and documents requested in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 12, the periods given to the experts to prepare their reports in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 21, the periods determined for the notification of the decisions of the consumer arbitration committees to the parties in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 25 and the second paragraph of Article 27, shall stop from the date of 13 March 2020 (including this date),
• Until the date of 30 April 2020 (including this date). The periods given in the subparagraph (b) of this paragraph shall start from the day following the day on which the suspension period ends. If fifteen days or less remain as of the starting date of the suspension period for the submission of information and documents, these periods are considered to have extended for fifteen days starting from the day following the end of the suspension period.”

The Statement by the Presidency of Communication about Pandemic Isolation Tracking Project developed against COVID-19 (09/04/2020)

• The project came into effect in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Information Technologies and Communication Authority and all GSM operators after obtaining the necessary permissions within the framework of legal authority. Within the scope of the project, it will be monitored whether positive cases comply with the isolation rule required for the health of both themselves and their relatives and the whole society.
• With this project, if the person who needs to be under isolation due to the risk of Covid-19 leave their homes, a warning message will be sent to their phones.
• Also, these people will be contacted instantly through automatic call technology and they will be asked to return their isolation residence address. The situation of those who do not comply with the warning and continue with the violation will be shared with the relevant law security forces, and necessary administrative measures and sanctions will be implemented. 
• By examining the person's information, road control police teams will be able to find out whether the person has violated the isolation.
• In Article 6 (3) of Data Protection Law No. 6698 titled 'Processing of sensitive data', exceptional purposes are set forth, which enable the processing of sensitive personal data without the explicit consent of those concerned. Accordingly, it is envisaged that sensitive personal data can be processed by authorized institutions and organizations without the explicit consent of people who are under the obligation to keep secrets in order to protect public health, preventive medicine, medical diagnosis, treatment, and care services. Therefore, the processing and transfer of personal data such as location information and sensitive personal data such as the knowledge that the Covid-19 test is positive does not contradict the provisions of Law No. 6698.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs published the Additional Circular about Exceptions for children and young people with "Special Requirement" (09/04/2020)

• Children and adolescents under 20 years of age who have been diagnosed with “Special Needs” diagnosed as severe mental retardation, down syndrome, will be allowed to leave their residences, travel around the gardens in the same province with the social distance rule and use their masks.