2020 in Turkey

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Centuries:	20th 21st
Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
See also:	List of years in Turkey

Events of 2020 in Turkey.

Incumbents

• President: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
• 29th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly: Mustafa Şentop
• President of the Constitutional Court: Zühtü Arslan^[1]
• Chief of the Turkish General Staff of the Armed Forces: Yaşar Güler
• Government: 66th government of Turkey
• Cabinet: Fourth Erdoğan Cabinet

Events

Ongoing

• COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
• 2016–present purges in Turkey
• 2018–2022 Turkish currency and debt crisis

January

• January 2: Turkey reports a new refugee influx and possible crisis, as 250,000 Syrians flee Syria for Turkey, due to Syrian government attacks on rebel groups around Idlib.^[2]
• January 6: The new building of the National Organization Agency (MİT) opened in Etimesgut, Ankara.^[3]
• January 7: Turkey signs maritime deal with Libya.^[4]
• January 11: A 4.9-magnitude earthquake occurred in Silivri.^[5]
• January 15: Turkey lifts its ban on Wikipedia, due to a ruling by the Turkish High Constitutional Court.^[6]
• January 24: 2020 Elazığ earthquake^[7]

February

• February 4–5: 2020 Van avalanches: two avalanches occurred near Bahçesaray, killing at least 41 people.^[8]
• February 5: Pegasus Airlines Flight 2193 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Izmir to Istanbul. The Boeing 737-800 operating the route skidded off the runway while landing at the Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. Three people were killed, 179 people were injured, and the aircraft was destroyed.^[9]
• February 23: 2020 Iran–Turkey earthquakes: the first one occurred on 23 February, near Khoy in north-west Iran, close to the border with Turkey, killing 9 people in Başkale, Van. It hit at 9:23 a.m. local time (05:53 UTC) with a magnitude of 5.8 M_w. About 10 hours later the same area was hit by another major earthquake of 6.0 M_w .^[10]
• February 27: During the peak of Operation Dawn of Idlib 2, the Syrian Arab Air Force, and possibly the Russian Air Force, conducted two airstrikes against a Turkish Army convoy in Balyun, Idlib. The strikes resulted in the deaths of 34 Turkish soldiers according to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.^[11] (see: 2020 Balyun airstrikes)

March

• March 1: Turkey started conducting Operation Spring Shield.^[12]
• March 11: The Ministry of Health confirms the first COVID-19 case in Turkey.^[13] (see: COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey)
• March 12: As part of the governmental measures for controlling the pandemic, primary and secondary schools were closed for 1 week from 16 March. Universities were also closed for 3 weeks.^[14]
• March 17: The first death from COVID-19 occurred in Turkey.^[15]
• March 21: A curfew was imposed by the government for people over 65.^[16]
• March 27: All educational programs were suspended until April 30 as a result of governmental measures for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.^[17]

April

• April 3: A curfew was imposed by the government for people under 20.^[18]
• April 10: As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a curfew was declared in 31 provinces.^[19]
• April 17: In order to control the spread of COVID-19, a curfew was declared in 31 provinces which was set to last over the weekend.^[20]
• April 20: Another curfew was announced by the government in 30 metropolitan municipalities and Zonguldak, restricting movement across the cities between April 23 and 27.^[21]
• April 27: Another curfew was announced by the government in 30 metropolitan municipalities and Zonguldak, restricting movement across the cities between 1–3 May.^[22]

June

• June 1: Prohibitions and measures introduced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic started to be gradually lifted. The normalization process began.^[23]
• June 14: An earthquake of 5.7 M_w hit Bingöl, Karlıova. One person was killed.^[24]
• June 15: Turkey launched an air attack on the areas used as a base by terrorists in northern Iraq under Operation Claw-Eagle.^[25]
• June 17:
  • Turkey launched Operation Claw-Tiger in Northern Iraq.^[26]
  • Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkır is elected President of the 75th United Nations General Assembly. He was the sole candidate.^[27]

July

• July 3: An explosion occurred in the fireworks factory in Hendek. 6 workers died and 114 workers were injured.^[28]
• July 6: 450 hectares of forest were burned in the Ilgardere district of Gelibolu, Çanakkale. Transportation was stopped in the Dardanelles.^[29]
• July 7: The elections for choosing the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly was held. Mustafa Şentop was re-elected.^[30]
• July 10: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan annuls the Hagia Sophia's museum status, converting the site back into a mosque.^[31]

August

• August 21:
  • Turkey has found 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the biggest ever discovery in the Black Sea, and hopes to begin production by 2023. The Turkish drilling ship Fatih, had been carrying out exploration operations in the Tuna-1 sector in the western Black Sea for the past month.^[32]
  • President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed the decision to transfer the administration of the Chora Church to the Directorate of Religious Affairs and to open it for worship as a mosque, and the decision was published in the T.C. Resmî Gazete.^[33]
• August 23: Flood and landslide disaster occurred in Giresun Province and seven of its districts. 6 people died.^[34]
• August 25: Ahlat Mansion was opened during the 949th anniversary of Manzikert Victory.^[35]

September

• September 3: Otoyol 21, connecting Ankara and Tarsus, was put into service.^[36]
• September 17: Turkey's first flying car introduced as Cezeri, took off in Teknofest Gaziantep.^[37]
• September 21: In-person education following the COVID-19 pandemic started gradually, covering first grade and pre-school students.^[38]
• September 24: An earthquake of 4.2 magnitude occurred off Tekirdağ and Marmaraereğlisi.^[39]
• September 27: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Turkey would support Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.^[40]

October

• October 11: Forest fires that started in Belen, Hatay, spread to other districts. 400 hectares of forest burned.^[41]
• October 12: In-person education was enforced for students in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th and 12th grades.^[42]
• October 17: Erdoğan announced that 85 billion cubic meters of natural gas was discovered in the Black Sea.^[43]
• October 26: A suicide bombing perpetrated by the PKK occurred on Fener Street in İskenderun,^[44] injuring several people and killing the perpetrator.
• October 30: The 2020 Aegean Sea earthquake with an epicenter close to the Gulf of Kuşadası caused building damages and tsunami on the Turkish west coast. More than 110 people were killed and over 1100 were injured.^[45]

November

• November 2: In person education started gradually for students, including 5th and 12th grades.^[46]
• November 5: With the circular issued by the Ministry of Interior, new measures were announced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.^[47]
• November 9: Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak's request for resignation was accepted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Lütfi Elvan was appointed as the new Minister of Treasury and Finance.^[48][49]
• November 15: The Turkish Grand Prix was held for the first time after nine years.^[50]
• November 18: With the circular issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, curfews and many new measures were introduced to be enforced on weekends, excluding activities occurring between 10:00 am – 08:00 pm.^[48]

December

• December 10: The ministry of health announced the total number of coronavirus cases in Turkey as 1,748,567.^[51]
• December 14: The United States Department of the Treasury issued sanctions against the Presidency of Defense Industries.^[52]
• December 30: 3 million units of CoronaVac were delivered to Turkey.^[53]

Deaths

• 17 January – Rahşan Ecevit, politician (b. 1923)^[54]
• 19 January – Kazım Ayvaz, wrestler (b. 1938)^[55]
• 25 January – Garbis Zakaryan, boxer (b. 1930)^[56]
• 14 February – Hilmi Ok, football referee (b. 1932)^[57]
• 17 February – Mustafa Yücedağ, footballer (b. 1966)^[58]
• 25 February – Hikmet Köksal, military officer (b. 1932)^[59]
• 2 March – Suat Yalaz, comic book artist (b. 1932)^[60]
• 15 March – Aytaç Yalman, military officer (b. 1940)^[61]
• 20 March –
  • Cengiz Bektaş, architect (b. 1934)^[62]
  • Muhterem Nur, actress and singer (b. 1932)^[63]
• 24 March – Nihat Akbay, footballer (b. 1945)^[64]
• 28 March – Fevzi Aksoy, academic and columnist (b. 1930)^[65]
• 31 March – Turhan Kaya, actor (b. 1951)^[66]
• 2 April – Feriha Öz, pathologist (b. 1933)^[67]
• 3 April –
  • Helin Bölek, singer (b. 1992)^[68]
  • Yusuf Kenan Sönmez, politician (b. 1948)^[69]
• 14 April – Haydar Baş, politician (b. 1947)^[70]
• 15 April – Ülkü Azrak, academic (b. 1933)^[71]
• 27 April – Nur Yerlitaş, fashion designer (b. 1955)^[72]
• 3 May – Ömer Döngeloğlu, theologian (b. 1968)^[73]
• 9 June – Ayşegül Atik, actress (b. 1948)^[74]
• 13 June – Ziya Müezzinoğlu, Turkish economist, diplomat and politician (born 1919)
• 7 July – Jale Aylanç, actress (b. 1948)^[75]
• 14 July – Adalet Ağaoğlu, novelist and playwright (b. 1929)^[76]
• 17 July – Seyfi Dursunoğlu, performing artist and comedian (b. 1932)^[77]
• 31 August – Haldun Boysan, actor (b. 1958)^[78]
• 15 September – Suna Kıraç, businesswoman (b. 1941)^[79]
• 16 October – Markar Esayan, author, journalist and politician (b. 1969)^[80]
• 18 October – Bekir Coşkun, journalist, author (b. 1945)^[81]
• 26 October – Osman Durmuş, physician and former Minister of Health (b. 1947)^[82]
• 30 October – Mesut Yılmaz, politician, former prime minister and former leader of the Motherland Party (b. 1947)^[83]
• 1 November –
  • Burhan Kuzu, politician and lawyer (b. 1955)^[84]
  • Yalçın Granit, basketball player, coach and sports journalist (b. 1932)^[85]
• 6 November – Timur Selçuk, musician and conductor (b. 1946)^[86]
• 7 November – Gli, European Shorthair cat and an Internet celebrity (b. 2004)^[87]
• 19 November – Reşit Karabacak, wrestler (b. 1954)^[88]
• 17 December – Tuncay Mataracı, politician and former minister (b. 1935)^[89]
• 22 December – Özkan Sümer, former footballer and coach (b. 1940)^[90]
• 25 December – Engin Nurşani, folk musician (b. 1984)

See also

• History of Turkey
• Outline of Turkey
• Government of Turkey
• Politics of Turkey

Lists of military officials

• List of chiefs of the Turkish General Staff
• List of commanders of the Turkish Land Forces
• List of commanders of the Turkish Naval Forces
• List of commanders of the Turkish Air Force
• List of commandants of the Turkish Coast Guard

References

1. Prof. Dr. Zühtü ARSLAN / President, Constitutional Court official website.
2. Erdogan says up to 250,000 Syrians flee toward Turkey as crisis worsens. January 2, 2020. Reuters.
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26. "Pençe-Kaplan Operasyonu". 17 June 2020.
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34. "Giresun'da yaşanan selde vefat eden kişi sayısı 6". Sözcü. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
35. "Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan, külliyeyi Bahçeli ile birlikte açacak". Sabah. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
36. "Ankara-Niğde otoyolu açıldı".
37. "Türkiye'nin ilk uçan arabası Cezeri, havalandı". Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
38. "21 Eylül'de okullar açılıyor". CNN Türk.
39. "24 Eylül Tekirdağ deprem".
40. "Türk Milleti Her Zaman Azerbaycan'ın Yanındadır". bloomberght. 27 September 2020.
41. "Hatay'da orman yangınları". Deutsch Welle.
42. "12 Ekim'de açılan sınıflar". Sözcü.
43. "Karadeniz'de bulunan doğal gaz rezervi 405 milyar metreküpe yükseldi". BBC News Türkçe.
44. Karagoz, Lale Koklu; Milli, Burak (October 26, 2020). "Explosion hits Iskenderun town in southern Turkey". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020.
45. "İzmir'de deprem". Habertürk. 2 November 2020.
46. "Ortaokul 5 ve lise 9. sınıflar açıldı". Archived from the original on 13 November 2020.
47. "81 ile yeni koronavirüs tedbirleri".
48. "İletişim Başkanlığı, Berat Albayrak'ın görevden af talebini kabul edilmiştir". TRT Haber.
49. "Hazine ve Maliye Bakanlığı görevine Lütfi Elvan atandı". TRT Haber.
50. "Türkiye Grand Prix'inde Lewis Hamilton şampiyon oldu". Anadolu Ajansı. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020.
51. "Toplam vaka sayısı açıklandı".
52. "ABD'den Türkiye'ye S-400 yaptırımı kararı". Anadolu Ajansı. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020.
53. "Çin Aşısı Türkiye'de". HaberTürk. 30 December 2020.
54. "Turkish politician, writer Rahşan Ecevit dies at age 97". Daily Sabah. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
55. "Turkish Wrestling Great Kazim Ayvaz Passes Away". United World Wrestling. 19 January 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
56. "Turkey's first professional boxer Zakaryan dies at 90". Anadolu Agency. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
57. "Eski MHK Başkanı Hilmi Ok vefat etti" [Former MHK President Hilmi Ok passed away] (in Turkish). Anadolu Agency. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
58. "Oud PEC Zwolle-speler Mustafa Yücedag (53) overleden" [Former PEC Zwolle player Mustafa Yücedag (53) passed away] (in Dutch). 18 February 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
59. "Eski Kara Kuvvetleri Komutanlarından Hikmet Köksal vefat etti" [Hikmet Köksal, one of the former Land Forces Commanders, died] (in Turkish). 26 February 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
60. "Kara Murat'ın çizgi romancısısı Abdullah Turhan ve Karaoğlan'ın çizeri Suat Yalaz hayatını kaybetti! Suat Yalaz kimdir?" [Kara Murat's comic bookmaker Abdullah Turhan and Karaoğlan's cartoon Suat Yalaz lost their lives! Who is Suat Yalaz?] (in Turkish). 3 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
61. "'Aytaç Yalman'ın corona virüs nedeniyle öldüğü kanaati oluşmuştur' (Başhekimlik açıkladı)" ['There is a conviction that Aytac Yalman died because of corona virus' (Chief Physician explained)] (in Turkish). 19 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
62. "Mimar ve şair Cengiz Bektaş vefat etti" [Architect and poet Cengiz Bektaş passed away] (in Turkish). 20 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
63. "Son dakika haberi: Muhterem Nur hayatını kaybetti" [Breaking news: Reverend Nur died] (in Turkish). 20 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
64. "Vefat ve başsağlığı Nihat Akbay" [Death and condolences Nihat Akbay] (in Turkish). 24 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
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66. "Kurtlar Vadisi'nin usta oyuncusu Turhan Kaya corona virüsten hayatını kaybetti" Posta (1 April 2020)
67. "Sağlık Bakanı Koca, koronavirüs nedeniyle ölen Prof. Dr. Feriha Öz için başsağlığı diledi" (in Turkish). Yeni Şafak. Anadolu Agency. 2 April 2020. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
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69. "Yusuf Kenan Sönmez kimdir? Yusuf Kenan Sönmez kaç yaşında ve nereli?". Sözcü. 3 April 2020. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
70. "Son dakika... Haydar Baş koronavirüs nedeniyle hayatını kaybetti" (in Turkish). CNN Türk. Demirören News Agency. 14 April 2020. Archived from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
71. Gönel, Güç (15 April 2020). "Prof. Dr. Ülkü Azrak Kovid-19 nedeniyle hayatını kaybetti" (in Turkish). Istanbul. Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
72. "Son Dakika: Nur Yerlitaş hayatını kaybetti". Hürriyet. 27 April 2020. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
73. "Ramazan programları, yeni yapımlar..." Kanal 7. 1 September 2008. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
74. "Son dakika... Ayşegül Atik hayatını kaybetti!". Hürriyet. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
75. "Oyuncu Jale Aylanç hayatını kaybetti". Habertürk (in Turkish). 7 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
76. "Adalet Ağaoğlu hayatını kaybetti". Sözcü. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
77. "Son dakika: Huysuz Virjin lakaplı Seyfi Dursunoğlu hayatını kaybetti". Sabah. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
78. "Ünlü oyuncu Haldun Boysan hayatını kaybetti". www.gazetevatan.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
79. "Suna Kıraç hayatını kaybetti". Sözcü. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
80. "Markar Esayan son yolculuğuna uğurlandı".
81. "Bekir Çoşkun son yolculuğuna uğurlandı".
82. "Osman Durmuş vefat etti".
83. "Mesut Yılmaz hayatını kaybetti".
84. "Burhan Kuzu vefat etti".
85. "Yalçın Granit vefat etti".
86. "Timur Selçuk hayatını kaybetti". 6 November 2020.
87. "Ayasoyfa'nın meşhur kedisi Gli yaşamını yitirdi". Archived from the original on 7 November 2020.
88. "Reşit Karabacak son yolculuğuna uğurlandı". NTV Spor. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020.
89. "Eski bakan Tuncay Mataracı vefat etti". Sözcü. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020.
90. "Eski Trabzonspor Kulübü Başkanlarından Özkan Sümer Vefat Etti". Cumhuriyet. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020.

External links

• Turkey page at Country Studies website.