Turkey to fine vendors selling food at high prices

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that heavy fines will be imposed on vendors selling food at high prices.

Those who are responsible for high food prices will face heavy penalties, Erdogan said in a speech after Friday prayer in Istanbul.

He said that the government will continue supporting small businesses during the pandemic.

"The decline in the number of casualties makes me very hopeful," Erdogan stated.

He added that he hoped to overcome the negative developments stemming from the new variants of COVID-19.

As of Thursday, Turkey had registered a total of 25,605 deaths due to the coronavirus, while over 2.34 million people have recovered from the disease. Currently, there are more than 2.45 million confirmed cases in the country.

- Animal rights

In response to a question, Erdogan said the Parliament could any time pass the animal rights law.

The proposed law is expected to impose new responsibilities on pet owners.

On his phone call with Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, he said that Turkey will coordinate with the firm on space technology.