Backdropped by the iconic Sultan Ahmed Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, a couple poses for photographs at the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, late Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020. A four-day lockdown is set to begin in Turkey at 9:00 pm Thursday — New Year’s Eve — in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19 and measures against New Yeer’s gatherings are to be enforced. Istanbul’s governor said Thursday some 34,000 law enforcement personnel would be on duty to enforce the rules in Turkey’s most populous city. Turkey has among the worst infection rates in the world but official statistics show the 7-day average of daily infections have dropped to around 16,000 from above 30,000 since evening curfews and weekend lockdowns were instituted in early December. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
