By Emin Avundukluoglu
ANKARA (AA) – A Turkish opposition leader on Wednesday criticized Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country's president, over the government’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Speaking to her Good (IYI) Party parliamentary group, Meral Aksener said Erdogan had failed to carry out the advice of the country's committee tackling the virus.
"The science (committee) said ’15-day lockdown,’ he closed his ears to them. The outbreak spread, the science (committee) said: '28-day lockdown needed,’ he didn’t pay attention," Aksener said.
Aksener added that he spurned this advice as the outbreak spread throughout Turkey.
Since starting a vaccination campaign in mid-January, Turkey has so far administered over 20.3 million coronavirus vaccine jabs nationwide.
Facing a new wave of the virus, Turkey recently also expanded curfews and lockdowns and announced special measures to ensure safety during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.04 million lives in 192 countries and regions.
Over 143 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now more than 82 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.
