Turkey delivers medical aid to US to help fight virus

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - A Turkish military cargo plane carrying medical supplies for use against the coronavirus pandemic departed on Tuesday for the US.

"The loading process of the medical aid supplies to be delivered to the US by Turkish Armed Forces aircraft has been completed. Our aircraft carrying the medical aid supplies to be used in combating COVID-19 has departed from Etimesgut Airfield/Ankara," the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

The medical aid supplies also carried on a message for the people of the US, saying: "After hopelessness, there is so much hope and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun. Rumi."

The ministry also released a statement saying that the medical aid supplies leaving for Washington were prepared under the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"The health supplies prepared by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Health consists of masks, face visors, N95 masks and overalls," it added.

The ministry also said: "Our Turkish Armed Forces aircrafts have also delivered health supplies previously to Spain, Italy, Britain, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Libya and Somalia."

After originating in Wuhan, China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to at least 185 countries and regions across the world. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit.

US deaths from the coronavirus have surpassed 56,000, with the number of infections near one million -- two thirds of the world's total.

The pandemic has killed more than 211,200 people worldwide, with the total number of infections exceeding 3.04 million, while at least 894,500 have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US.