'Turkey continues giving helping hand to needy'

By Burak Dag

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey continues to lend a helping hand to people in need as the world’s most generous country during the coronavirus pandemic, said Turkey’s foreign minister, marking Dec. 20, International Human Solidarity Day.

"As the most generous country in the world, we continue to give our helping hand to needy people during the outbreak and to be the voice of the oppressed," said Mevlut Cavusoglu on Twitter on Sunday.

He also quoted Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, as saying: "Civilization is not a matter of means, but of conscience."

In his tweet, Cavusoglu also shared video footage of Turkey’s aid efforts.

This September, speaking on the UN’s 75th anniversary, Erdogan said: "As the most generous aid donor country in terms of the ratio of Turkish assistance to its GDP, we tried to alleviate the problems caused by the pandemic with our available means.”

Last week, Erdogan stressed the importance of international solidarity and aid during the pandemic, noting that Turkey had provided aid to some 156 countries and nine international organizations since it emerged in China about a year ago.