Coronavirus: Bulgaria closes border with Turkey as Ramadan begins

A police officer checks the papers of a driver at one of the exits from Sofia, after the city has been cordoned off to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic, on April 17, 2020. REUTERS / Stoyan Nenov

Text by: Damian Vodénitcharov

Ramadan begins with measures against the coronavirus in Bulgaria. The country has sealed off its border with Turkey to prevent round trips this weekend.

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From our correspondent in Sofia,

The Turkish-Bulgarian border will remain closed until midnight on April 27. Only heavy goods vehicles and vehicles carrying humanitarian aid will be able to pass through border posts.

The government has taken these measures to prevent Bulgarian expatriates from going on vacation. More than 300,000 Turkish-speaking Bulgarians, representing about a third of the Muslim minority, were expelled by the communist regime in 1989. Most of them settled in Turkey and often spent their holidays with relatives who remained in Bulgaria.

The mosques will also be closed during Ramadan on the orders of the Grand Mufti. The prayers will be broadcast online and the faithful are encouraged to consume iftar in small families.

These measures are adopted after an Orthodox Easter weekend upset by a massive departure on vacation. Prime Minister Boïko Borissov then refused to order the closure of the churches or to introduce compulsory confinement.

The crisis unit is expecting a spike in new cases of coronavirus. For the moment, the figures seem to confirm these fears: 90 new patients were registered on the night of April 23 to 24, a record for Bulgaria.

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  • Bulgaria
  • Turkey
  • Coronavirus
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