Turkish president speaks with Algerian, Indonesian leaders

By Sefa Mutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey’s president on Tuesday spoke on the phone with his Algerian and Indonesian counterparts, according to an official statement.

Turkey's Communications Directorate said Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke separately with Algeria’s Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Indonesia’s Joko Widodo.

The leaders exchanged greetings for Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Erdogan and Tebboune discussed the fight against the novel coronavirus and bilateral relations as well as regional issues.

Erdogan and Widodo discussed the fight against COVID-19 and steps to strengthen ties between the two countries.

Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The US, Russia, Brazil, and several European countries are currently the hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed nearly 348,000 people worldwide, with more than 5.54 million confirmed cases, while recoveries around 2.27 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.