Turkey suspends mass prayers, orders cultural spaces closures

ANKARA: Turkey on Monday suspended collective mosque prayers until further notice to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, while ordering the closure of public spaces including cinemas.

“It is necessary to suspend collective prayers at mosques for a period,” said Ali Erbas, the head of Turkey’s religious affairs authority, Diyanet, including the important Friday prayer.

Around 90,000 mosques will however remain open to individuals who wish to pray individually, Erbas said in Ankara.

The interior ministry later Monday said theatres, cinemas, concert halls, restaurants where there is live music, shisha cafes and places serving tea and coffee would be closed “temporarily” from midnight Monday (2100 GMT).

The long list of places to be closed includes gyms, swimming pools, internet cafes and amusement parks.

Civil society organisations will also have to stop any activities that bring people together, it said in a statement.

Most synagogues will also be closed from Wednesday, the Turkish Chief Rabbinate Foundation said on Twitter.

Turkey, which has officially recorded 18 cases of the new coronavirus, has also shut schools and universities for a limited period.

On Sunday, thousands of pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia were quarantined.