From famous intellectuals to ordinary pensioners, Turkey’s senior citizens are up in arms against a government decision to keep them under curfew over the COVID-19 pandemic while greatly relaxing restrictions for others this week.

Turkey ushered in a “new normal” June 1 as most businesses reopened and intercity travel resumed, with the government eager to revive an economy that was already ailing before the pandemic. Yet citizens aged 65 and above, excluding business owners, remain under a curfew introduced March 21, 10 days after Turkey confirmed its first COVID-19 case. A similar restriction remains in place for minors younger than 18.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attributed the ban to the higher risks the coronavirus poses to the elderly, though Ankara’s relaxation plan appears to prioritize the economy and has sparked concerns that the current downtick in COVID-19 cases might become a second contagion wave. The government’s justification has hardly convinced senior citizens, who are allowed to go out for only six hours on Sunday afternoons. Medical specialists, too, have called for a review of the ban, warning that prolonged immobility and social isolation could trigger health issues for the elderly. 

Well-known intellectuals are at the forefront of the rising clamor. Poet and academic Ataol Behramoglu is one of them. In a video message June 1, the 78-year-old said, “Am I supposed to start some business or open a grocery to be able to go out? … How is such nonsense possible? I’m calling on all scientists and people of the arts to speak out loudly against this nonsense.”