Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a weekend curfew introduced to halt the spread of coronavirus, pointing to concerns over the economy, according to AFP.

Turkey has been locked down on weekends and public holidays since April, and the interior ministry said earlier today that 15 cities would again be shuttered this weekend.

However, hours later Erdogan announced on Twitter that he had cancelled the curfew after “feedback from our citizens” suggested it would have a negative economic impact.

“We were not willing to see our citizens suffer just as they began to return to their usual daily life following a two-and-a-half-month break,” the president said.

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