'Turkey seeks international solidarity on COVID-19'

ANKARA

Turkey wants international peace, cooperation, and solidarity to grow, therefore provides assistance to needy countries struck by the coronavirus outbreak, according to the country’s communications director.

“During the global pandemic period, even though the inter-state relations show deregulation trend and while we are striving to protect our own citizens, we do not turn our back on the countries in need. This is the most concrete indicator of this situation,” Fahrettin Altun said.

His remarks came at a video conference titled "COVID-19: Experiences and International Cooperation In the Fight Against the Pandemic", where Turkish ambassadors to Beijing, Rome, and Seoul also commended on the global impacts of the disease.

Arguing that coronavirus was a milestone in today's world, Altun said the post-Cold War period triggered a speedy globalization period and almost all corners of the globe became dependent on each other.

The global integration and dependency also affected the spread of the virus, according to the communications director, who argued this was visible in the spread of the virus for it was largely observed in Italy and Iran before neighbors of China.

According to Altun, the post-pandemic period will also make one question the sustainability of the bipolar international order and the global trade regime.

He further noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the first international leader to bring up the coronavirus issue to the agenda while he was addressing his counterparts in the U.K., Germany, and France.

Turkey has extended a helping hand to a total of 30 countries, including the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, China, Spain, and Italy, he added.

Referring to the situation in Turkey, he said: “A total of 222,868 people showing symptoms of coronavirus infection have been tested so far, and 34,109 of them confirmed positive. 725 citizens died of virus infection.

"It is our only consolidation during this process that the number of recovered patients was nearing 1,600 as of last night.”

He added that the number of intensive care unit beds in Turkey were better than those in the U.S. and Germany, and this gap would further grow once the city-hospitals of the country start to serve to infected people.

On the recently-launched National Solidarity Campaign, where donations will be used for 2.3 million needy people, he said over 1.4 billion Turkish liras (over $207 million) was collected already, demonstrating solidarity among the nation.

Since the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 emerged last December in China's Wuhan city, it has spread to at least 184 countries and regions.

There are more than 1.45 million confirmed cases worldwide, with over 83,500 deaths, and above 308,600 recoveries, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

* Writing by Ali Murat Alhas.