Turkey confirmed on Tuesday its first coronavirus case and said the affected person was a Turkish man who had been put into isolation in hospital.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a press conference late on Tuesday that the person contracted the virus while traveling to Europe. He also urged Turkish citizens against traveling abroad and asked those returning to administer self-quarantine for 14 days. Family members of the patient are under observation, Koca said.
The minister urged people not to be alarmed by the diagnosis, saying the country had still steered clear of an outbreak. “The coronavirus is not strong enough to break through the measures taken by Turkey,” he added.
He also asked the public to take precautions against the virus in the coming month.
Earlier on Tuesday, Koca said he would meet with the country’s education minister in coming days and discuss temporally closing schools. “The Turkish presidency can publish a notice restricting civil servants’ international travel except in obligatory cases,“ he added.
The global death toll from the coronavirus is now over 4,000, with nearly 114,000 confirmed cases.
The virus originated in China but has since reached over 100 countries, with the WHO saying on Monday that the “threat of a pandemic has become very real.”
As part of efforts to contain the outbreak, some governments have closed borders and suspended land and air travel with the worst-affected countries.
Italy has been put under a dramatic total lockdown, as the coronavirus spreads in the country. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that he is extending restrictions already in place in the north.
“All the measure of the red zones are now extended to all of the national territory,” Conte said at a press conference on Monday evening, also announcing a ban on all public events.
The Prime Minister said the move was taken in order to protect the population, and especially the most fragile individuals. His announcement came at the end of a chaotic day that saw prison riots across the country.
Ninety-seven people have died of the novel coronavirus since Sunday in Italy, bringing its total number of deaths to 463. The country has 9,172 cases so far, the most of any European country.
Over the weekend, blanket travel restrictions had been announced in just certain areas of Italy’s north. The rest of the country will now join the northern provinces under lockdown — one of the toughest responses implemented outside of mainland China to get the Covid-19 epidemic under control.
The coordinator for intensive care in the crisis unit for the northern Lombardy region told CNN that Lombardy’s health care system was “one step from collapse” despite efforts to free up hospital beds.
“We are now being forced to set up intensive care treatment in corridors,” Antonio Pesenti said. “We’ve emptied entire hospital sections to make space for seriously sick people.”
He described seeing “a tsunami of patients,” adding that there could be 18,000 patients in hospital by the end of the month if the virus continues to spread.
I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “Italians should be worried.”
Under the previous north-only lockdown, checks on compliance with the movement ban were to be carried out on main highways and along smaller roads by the Carabinieri (military police) and municipal police forces, while railway police, health authority workers and civil protection staff using thermoscan appliances will enforce the travel ban on the state’s railways.
Travelers, including those departing or arriving in the containment regions by airplane, were to be checked to see if they have a self-declared travel exemption.
Checks were also introduced for cruise ship passengers arriving in Venice, who will not be able to disembark to visit the city, but will only be able to return to their place of residence or country of origin.
Michele De Marsico told CNN at a Milan train station on Sunday that he was trying to work out how to return to southern Italy. “I was worried, so I came here to the train station to check out the situation,” said the 55-year-old.
The New York Federal Reserve is pumping in tens of billions of dollars of extra cash into the financial system in a bid to ease severe stress gripping global financial markets because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Authorities also more than doubled the amount offered during two-week term repurchase, or “repo,” agreements to at least $45 billion. During overnight repo operations, the central bank eases pressure and adds liquidity by purchasing Treasuries and other securities.
The NY Fed cited the coronavirus outbreak, which has forced Wall Street firms to consider how they will operate if New York City requires employees to work from home.
The moves “should help support smooth functioning of funding markets as market participants implement business resiliency plans in response to the coronavirus,” the NY Fed said in a statement.
In other words, the Fed wants to prevent borrowing rates from creeping higher during the market stress.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM), America’s largest bank, recently asked thousands of its employees to work from home for a day and is testing backup trading sites in case the outbreak disrupts its primary trading floors in New York and London.
The NY Fed first began pumping money into the overnight lending market in September in response to spiking borrowing rates. Although it gets far less attention than stocks and bonds, the overnight lending market is critical to the functioning of the global financial system. It allows banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions to cheaply and easily borrow money.
Analysts said unlike that rescue in the fall, Monday’s announcement was preemptive in nature, aimed at avoiding a similar surge in borrowing costs.
“The Fed wanted to send a signal that it sees what’s going on in markets and is being responsive,” said Mark Cabana, head of US rates strategy at Bank of America. “Why not? There is very limited cost for the Fed.”
Bailouts for airlines, cruise operators?
Overnight secured lending rates have been relatively stable during the recent turmoil. However, unsecured rates have been more volatile, reflecting rising economic concerns.
Coronavirus fears, coupled with an historic collapse in oil prices, sent shockwaves through markets Monday. Selling was so intense that circuit breakers were triggered, forcing a 15-minute trading halt on the New York Stock Exchange. US stocks rebounded from session lows following the rare trading pause.
“I’m not sure that the Fed’s actions will help valuations, but it will prevent a banking reserve shortfall from compounding the risk-off tone in financial markets,” said Guy LeBas, managing director of fixed income strategy at Janney Capital Markets.
Wall Street is clamoring for more action from Washington, including potential fiscal stimulus in the form of tax cuts or spending packages. And the Fed is under pressure to provide more help as well.
“The market is looking for the Fed to do more,” said Cabana.
Cabana said investors want the Fed to invoke its emergency powers to launch lending programs aimed at helping parts of the economy getting clobbered by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Investors are speculating about whether the Fed could lend to airlines, cruise operators, hotels and restaurants,” he said.
Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal. Shares of Saudi Aramco fell on Sunday below their initial public offering price for the first time. Credit… Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
Saudi Arabia slashed its export oil prices over the weekend in what is likely to be the start of a price war aimed at Russia but with potentially devastating repercussions for Russia’s ally Venezuela, Saudi Arabia’s enemy Iran and even American oil companies.
The Saudi decision to cut prices by nearly 10 percent on Saturday was a dramatic move in retaliation for Russia’s refusal on Friday to join the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in a large production cut as the coronavirus continues to slow the global economy and, with it, demand for oil.
The break in a three-year alliance between the Saudi-led oil cartel and Russia to support prices may be temporary. The moves over the weekend may well have been part of a negotiating chess game, and the Saudis and Russians can still reach a compromise. But if the collapse is lasting, oil executives say there is nothing to stop oil prices from tumbling to the lowest levels in at least five years.
“If a true price war ensues, there will be plenty of pain in the oil markets,” said Badr Jafar, president of Crescent Petroleum, a United Arab Emirates oil company. “Many will be bracing for the economic and geopolitical shocks of a low-price environment.”
A major drop in oil prices would hurt producers around the world, particularly Venezuela and Iran, whose oil-based economies are already under pressure from American sanctions. Export earnings of both countries have already been reduced to a trickle, and a further decline would stretch their abilities to pay for vital services and security.
The one bright spot may be at the gas pump. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States, according to the AAA Motor Club, has already fallen five cents in the last week, to $2.40 from $2.45, and prices could easily drop below $2 a gallon in some states in the coming weeks. Lower-income drivers, who typically own older, less fuel-efficient vehicles and spend a higher percentage of their wages on energy, stand to gain the most.
But a prolonged price collapse would add to financial pressure on highly indebted American oil companies, dozens of which have gone out of business in recent years, with a decline in American oil production likely to follow. Oil companies have been laying off workers in Texas and other oil producing states.
Canadian oil sands development, already lagging because of environmental concerns and costs, stands to be hit hard by a price war. And developing countries that depend on oil, like Nigeria, Angola and Brazil, may suffer significant economic slowdowns.
Traders now expect the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point this month, even after the reduction earlier this week.
Friday’s stock market rout and a fresh record low in government bond yields pushed traders to assign a 65% chance of a 75 basis point cut by the March 17-18 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, according to the CME’s FedWatch tracker. There was zero probability assigned to that steep of a cut Thursday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly fell below 0.7% as part of a continuing fear trade sparked by uncertainty over the coronavirus.
If the market is correct, the cut in the federal funds rate would take the borrowing cost in short-term markets down to a range of 0.25%-0.5%. On Tuesday, the Fed announced a 50 basis point cutthat put the current target to 1%-1.25%.
“We knew the Fed at some point if we had a recession again would get the funds rate to zero, and that is effectively being priced in,” said Mike Collins, senior portfolio manager at PGIM Fixed Income. “There’s a very good chance they cut a couple times more, maybe get to 50, maybe get to zero at the end of this year and probably get stuck there.”
That view got some support Friday, when various Fed regional presidents, including New York’s John Williams, Boston’s Eric Rosengren and St. Louis’ James Bullard all said the market is not wrong to expect more central bank help if the coronavirus situation worsens.
In afternoon trading Friday, the market was pricing in a 0.53% funds rate, but that was drifting lower through the day.
The possibility of the Fed going to zero, where it went in December 2008 and stayed for seven years, rose through the day Friday. Traders put a 35% chance of that happening by December, while also assigning a 12% probability to the central bank reversing some of its cuts and going back to a target range of 0.5%-0.75%.
Çağ University Assoc. Dr. Murat Koç stated “ There is a very clear fact standing in the middle: Russia does not want Turkey in the field anymore”
While answering the questions of DW Turkce, Koç stated that he agreed the idea that Russia agreed with United States on this issue and added “They are both trying to rein in Turkey and tame it in the field
Is the Adana Agreement acceptable?
Murat Koç, who is known by his works about Syria, emphasized that the proposal to find a solution to the Idlib problem with the Adana Agreement is very difficult to be accepted at this point by Turkey. Koc also added, “The minimum conditions for the Adana Agreement were existed before the Sochi’s breach but no longer exist. If Russia pulls out of the field and Turkey become alone with the Assad regime, then there will be a regional war. This is because today we are facing a reality like Iran, which has much more comfortable area in the field than Turkey.
“It is impossible for Turkey to give up”
In addition to this Koc also stated that at this point there are some strategic reasons besides security concerns behind the fact that Turkey is willing to fight for Idlib and also adding “Idlib has a great importance for Turkey in tactical, operative and strategic terms. It is impossible for Turkey to give up and take a step backward about Idlid because of these strategic reasons. If Turkey decides to step backward, it will face to the risk of losing all its expansions in the Mediterranean”
Koc emphasized that Idlib, which is in a sense a forward outpost for Turkey’s border security, has also of great importance because of its position which controls three sites of military action carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in other parts of Syria
According to Koc, other important factors affecting Ankara’s view about the region are the fact that it is a corridor of strategic importance and that it is the starting point for important energy and transportation projects to the Mediterranean.
OPEC is hoping to slash the supply of crude oil to world markets by 1.5 million barrels per day in an attempt to prop up prices as it confronts the biggest collapse in demand on record.
The cartel unveiled a plan Thursday to reduce output among its 13 members by 1 million barrels per day, and said it wouldseek an additional 500,000 barrels per day in cuts fromlongstanding allies including Russia.
Russia, the cartel’s main partner, still needs to sign on, according to Iran’s oil minister. OPEC and its allies are scheduled to meet Friday in Vienna.
OPEC initially said the new cuts would run through June, but after a series of late night meetings Thursday, the cartel said they should continue until the end of 2020. Existing cuts of 2.1 million barrels per day by OPEC and Russia would also beextended through the end of the year under the plan.
OPEC has faced immense pressure to act since oil prices fell into a bear market last month as the coronavirus outbreak destroyed demand for fuel, initially in China.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, rose slightly on news of the proposed cuts but fell 2% on Friday, tradingmore than 28% below their recent high in January. US oil is trading at $45.07, also more than 28% below its recent peak.
Research firm IHS Markit predicted Wednesday that oil demand will suffer its steepest decline on record in the first quarter — worse even than during the 2008 global financial crisis — as schools and offices close, airlines cancel flights and a growing number of people hunker down at home.
Most of the reduction in demand can be traced to China, where the coronavirus has caused what IHS Markit describes as an “unprecedented stoppage” of economic activity.
Goldman Sachs told clients this week that OPEC needed to agree to curb production by at least 1 million barrels per day in order to avoid a “sharp” sell-off.
The investment bank now believes that oil demand will shrink in 2020. Before the coronavirus outbreak, it expected demand to increase by 1.1 million barrels per day.
The nearly three-hour-long summit between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow over recent developments in Idlib has ended, reports said Thursday.
An inter-delegation meeting started right after the 180-minute-long bilateral talks, reports added.
The two leaders are set to discuss the recent developments in Syria, including cease-fire violations in the Idlib de-escalation zone, a stronghold of opposition forces in the war-torn country since 2011.
The regime and its allies have consistently broken the terms of the 2018 cease-fire and a new one that started on Jan. 12, launching frequent attacks inside the territory.
Turkey, which has the second-largest army in the transatlantic NATO alliance, has funneled troops and equipment into the region in recent weeks to resist the Syrian regime advance and avoid a wave of refugees across its southern border.
Besides civilian casualties and the influx of asylum seekers along Turkey’s borders, the breach has also resulted in the deaths of more than 34 Turkish soldiers in Bashar Assad regime attacks. In response, Ankara launched Operation Spring Shield against regime targets in northwestern Idlib province.
The number of stays by tourists at Turkey’s accommodation facilities surpassed 80 million in 2019, with a 12.38% increase year-on-year, while overnight stays were recorded at nearly 211 million, increasing by 10.8% compared to the year before.
Around 62.8% of the guests at the accommodation facilities were foreigners, reported Anadolu Agency (AA) citing Culture and Tourism Ministry data.
The report said the number of visitors, who stayed at a ministry or municipality-certified facility, reached 80.8 million.
The average duration of the stays in the facilities was recorded slightly over two-and-a-half days while the occupancy rate was 53.48%.
Some 24.68% of the overnight stays recorded last year were in municipality-approved accommodation facilities while 75.32% of them were in ministry-approved facilities.
The facilities recorded the highest number of visitors during June and October, while the most number of overnight stays were recorded between April and October.
The highest occupancy rate in 2019 was recorded in August at 77.5% while the lowest levels were between November and March.
Russians lead the way with the highest number of overnight stays (23%), followed by tourists from Germany (19%), the U.K. (7%), Ukraine (3%) and Poland (2.9%).
The southern Turkish resort city of Antalya was the leading province with the highest number of tourists staying at the facilities. It was followed by Istanbul, western Muğla and İzmir provinces and the capital Ankara.
In the number of overnight stays, Antalya ranked first again, followed by Istanbul, Muğla, İzmir and western province of Aydın, respectively.
The high-star hotels ranked first among the accommodation facilities, as around 38% of the visitors stayed there. Municipality-approved facilities came second, while four-star hotels with ministry approval became the third-preferred facilities. First-class holiday resorts were the fifth most preferred accommodation service.
The e-commerce giant Amazon is now delivering free to the Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Economy Ministry said Wednesday.
Last month, a Financial Times report revealed that Amazon was delivering free to Israeli settlements while charging Palestinian customers for its services.
The report said Palestinians who select their address as being in Israel get free shipping from the company.
Palestinians who select their address as being in the “Palestinian territories” when placing orders can expect to pay $24 or more, the newspaper said.
A ministry statement said the American company has reversed its policy on charging items for customers in the Palestinian territories.
It attributed the policy reversal by the company to “a series of Palestinian measures aiming at halting disregard to the Palestinian identity and recognizing settlements.”
There was no comment from Amazon on the report.
Last month, the ministry threatened to sue Amazon for conducting business in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The international community regards all Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories to be illegal and a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East. The area, captured by Israel in 1967, is not sovereign Israeli territory, and Palestinians living there are not Israeli citizens and do not have the right to vote. Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank are frequently targeted by extremist Jewish settlers.
After repeated calls from Palestinians, the U.N. Human Rights Council last month released a list of 112 companies which it has reasonable grounds to conclude have ties with Israeli settlements, 94 domiciled in Israel and 18 in six other countries, saying their activities “raised particular human rights concerns.” The move came after repeated delays in the release of the database which lists companies that promote illegal Israeli settlement expansion.
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