Two field hospitals for pandemic to be constructed by pro-government firm in Turkey

The Turkish President Erdoğan announced on Monday the construction of two coronavirus hospitals in İstanbul. One of the biggest pro-government companies, Rönesans Holding, will build the hospitals, according to the sources.
Tuesday, 07 April 2020 16:34

Turkey's Erdoğan announced on Monday that two coronavirus hospitals will be built in Istanbul in 45 days. According to Erdoğan's statements, the land of the closed Atatürk Airport in Yeşilköy will be used for one of the hospitals. The other hospital will be built in Istanbul's Sancaktepe district.

The construction of two field hospitals was revealed before Erdoğan's announcement, as some sources stated that Rönesans Holding announced tenders for raw materials.

Erman Ilıcak, the CEO of Rönesans Holding, was named as the second richest in Turkey according to Forbes 100. He increased his 2 billion dollars worth of wealth in 2016 to 4 billion dollars in 2018.

Rönesans has been one of the major construction companies that built Turkey's controversial city hospitals, defined as "the dream" by Erdoğan himself. The conglomerate has been one of the companies that become richer with the city hospital projects realized by the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

The Turkish government insists on continuing production and tenders for mega projects during the pandemic crisis, declaring curfew only for people under the age of 20 and over 65. The curfew for people below 20 was amended with a second circular, allowing those who work to go out.

The ruling AKP suspended the workers' union rights while raising funds to capitalists in order to save the economy, during the pandemic.