ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday held an online meeting with the country's youth from all provinces.

Erdogan responded to questions of young participants on various topics, from pandemic measures to Turkey’s thriving defense industry.

On a question about the full lockdown the country has started to impose on April 29 and scheduled to continue until the evening of May 17, Erdogan said: “We will announce our new timetable for the normalization (of pandemic measures) in the coming days. It is one of the top priorities of the next Cabinet meeting.”

He underlined that the normalization measures that will be announced would also cover reopening the schools across the country.

To stem the spread of the virus, Turkey last week began a nationwide lockdown set to last until May 17.

Responding to another question about the country’s improving defense capabilities and the arms industry, Erdogan said: “Turkey is currently a major defense industry exporter, not importer. We are now producing all munitions of our unmanned combat aerial vehicles in Turkey.”