‘May God help us’: Turkey’s lockdown compounds financial pain

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not announce a stimulus package to offset the economic impact of the new shutdown.

As coronavirus cases and deaths soar, Turkey’s president has instructed people to stay home for nearly three weeks and shut down many businesses as part of the country’s strictest COVID-19 measures yet. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not announce a stimulus package to offset the economic impact of the new restrictions. With Turkey’s double-digit inflation, sinking national currency and businesses in trouble, many Turks already have been struggling financially. Gozde Aslan, a newspaper seller in Istanbul, said the lockdown would be difficult to weather.