TURKEY LOCKDOWN Update – Is there a full lockdown? (December 2020)

UPDATE APRIL 27, 2021: For the current Coronavirus situation in Turkey, please CLICK HERE.

Turkey’s government has updated the lockdown rules and regulations on December 1, 2020 from the previous partial lockdown rules on November 20. Unfortunately cases with symptoms have increased from 4,500 to 6,500 a day, and now they are even counting cases with no symptoms for a total of roughly 30,000 new cases per day.

We go in depth with the new rules in our YouTube vide above, but we also wanted to put some of the basics in a post below and show how this is going to affect us and more importantly how will it affect your travel plans.

WEEKDAY CURFEW

Beginning Tuesday December 1, at 9pm Turkey local time there will be a 9pm curfew on every weekday until 5am the following morning for Turkish citizens and residents. This means as a Turkish citizen, Gokce is stuck inside after 9pm, but Steve can go party with the cats outside.

FULL WEEKEND LOCKDOWN

From 9pm Friday night Istanbul local time, December 4 through Monday 5am local time and continuing every weekend until further notice. This is also limited only to Turkish citizens and residents. The curfew and full weekend lockdown will not affect tourists, however, it seems most other places will be closed and we want to let you know how that will impact your trip.

Markets, grocery stores, butchers and other home delivery food services can remain open on the weekend and in store emergencies for citizens, tourist can use them as well.

As of now, hotel restaurants will be able to stay open and serve their guests only, but it would be smart to touch base with your specific hotel and double check.

DINING

Restaurants and cafes will remain closed for dining and now restaurants will only do package service. Pick up service will continue from 10am-8pm on weekdays, otherwise it will be delivery service only. For ordering food outside of those times, your best bet is YemekSepeti, Turkey’s version of Seamless or Uber Eats.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

As of now, no announcements were made about the closing of other major tourist attractions in Istanbul, of course the Basilica Cistern is already closed, however, Turkish baths and spas will be closed going forward.

As of now open air museums outside of Istanbul like Ephesus and Pamukkale are remaining open as well. That said, museums will now be closed on the weekends as they are not deemed essential services, so you will have to plan your trips accordingly.

SHOPPING MALLS AND PUBLIC PLACES

Going forward Turkish citizens and residents will need to present the “HES” code through your “Life Fits into Home” application which we will talk about more at the end of this blog. Malls will only be open on the weekdays as well now from 10am-8pm and closed on the weekends as they are also not essential services.

The Grand Bazaar will be open as well during weekdays but closed on weekends. No “HES” code is required to enter the Grand Bazaar.

Public spaces on week days will be limited in the amount of people that may gather, so try to avoid large crowded areas and there will be a limitation on people entering the malls. Beginning December 3, 2020 Istiklal Street (the street from Taksim Square to Galata Tower) will be limited to 7,000 people at a time. They will be using drones to monitor crowd size and possibly will have police to warn people or set up check points to limit crowd size to 1 person per 3 square meters.

We just wanted to reiterate also smoking outdoors is also illegal now, which came into effect in mid November. Theme parks will also be closed, but we are unsure if this will affect parks located within tourist hotels such as those down in Antalya.

TRAVEL WITHIN TURKEY

As of now travel between cities and travel into and out of Turkey is permitted, however, new regulations have come into place. Travel between cities by private car is strongly discouraged on the weekdays and is not allowed on weekends. To be on the safe side a common carrier such as a plane, bus or train. You will need to provide your “HES” code to travel this way and to ensure everyone traveling between cities can be contact traced. 

If you are visiting Turkey, you can download the “Life Fits into Home” application on Android or Apple markets and apply for a “HES” code within a few minutes by providing basic general tourist information. If it won’t work by application you can text your information to “2023” upon landing in Turkey to receive one as well.

Services at airports will remain open even during curfew times and tourists will be permitted to travel to and from the airport during curfew times as well.

We hope this provides you with some context around what to expect when visiting Turkey in the near future. If you still have questions or comments, please let us know here or reach out to us on YouTube or Instagram!