Honestly, don't lose your powers of rational thinking in this emergency. The trouble is we can't receive information easily about the health profiles of those infected and who have died in every country for obvious reasons - it's not possible at this point for the public. There are reasons for everything.
Yep, now nothing makes sense for me. There is simply no way that it didn't affect Turkey in December already, or January the latest considering how easy it spreads in Europe even during lockdowns, and considering the number of tourists in Istanbul, and especially having the direct flight to Wuhan.
Also, there is really no way that the Turkey wouldn't notice these cases earlier. Nothing makes sense anymore.
One of the key differences between countries is their political systems. China could get a grip by doing what it does usually - curtailing the activities of its citizens.
Brave souls from Wuhan on social media and other online sources told us the truth - people were having their doors barred from outside and this just wasn't in some parts of Wuhan.
People who worked in neighboring provinces were shut forcibly in their apartments with a warning sign 'This person/family has come back from Wuhan.' Some were left to starve to death by neighbours. The local police/army/snitch brigades dealt swiftly with so called 'troublemakers' who were asking questions or whatever. They were put into vehicles and driven off God knows where. I'm not a China basher but their political masters at all levels are usually fudging data. One brave woman I watched told the truth - she said you can't get a bed or medicine or help even if you have money. The politically connected etc were treated.
Why on earth wouldn't an authoritarian Islamist Government in Turkey cover up cases? The secular state with a Muslim majority that was Turkey has given way to a dictatorship of sorts with an aggressive expansionist bent, engaged in open warfare against Syria which Turkey has invaded parts of as well as an open war against the Shia regime in Iran. Turkey called upon NATO to support it when it invaded Syria again and unleashed thousands of so-called refugees, many of whom fought in militias connected with extremists, at the Greek border. This is a sick, dangerous government that endorses rapes of its political opponents - talking men mostly here - in prison as one means of torture.
Do you really think Turkey is the kind of country where transparency is important? Japan is a kind of democracy along western lines although with a right wing government having members that are neo-fascists - many Japanese and foreigners really have no understanding of their ideology. It is has a relatively open legal system although there are some shocking aspects such as detention for two years on no charges etc and its 'success' in convictions comes from signed confessions with no lawyer allowed to be present. Japan covered up COVID-19 cases because of the Olympic Games - it has had no scruples about playing Russian Roulette with the lives of citizens and residents. It is still hiding information and still testing at woefully low numbers.
So why is anybody remotely surprised by Turkey's situation? It's really a no-brainer. Authoritarian, secretive and at the present expanding. Yet you're surprised by the COVID-19 situation there?
