EU chief thanks Turkey for COVID-19 solidarity
BRUSSELS-WASHINGTON- Anadolu Agency
The head of the European Commission thanked Turkey’s president for attending and contributing to the international Coronavirus Global Response conference.
In a Twitter post, Ursula von der Leyen thanked all countries’ leaders for attending the international Coronavirus Global Response conference hosted by the European Commission aims to raise €7.5 billion ($8 billion) for diagnostics, treatment, and vaccines.
Sharing Erdoğan’s tweet von der Leyen said: “Thank you for support!”
Erdoğan had expressed the importance of accessibility to a vaccine for all in his video message to the conference.
“It is extremely important to guarantee global access to the vaccine to be produced and to apply the principle of 'no one should be left behind'. We will consider all these issues when determining our financial contribution to vaccine development efforts. We will announce the amount after the evaluations until 23 May," he said.
The EU as an international organization offered €1 billion ($1.09 billion) for the cause, while its member states also contributed.
The two biggest European donors were France and Germany who pledged €500 million ($546 million) and €525 million ($547 million), respectively.
China also offered $50 million, Japan $830 million, and Canada $600 million.
At the G-20 videoconference held on March 26, leaders made a commitment to funding the rapid development of the vaccine.
US lawmakers thank Turkey for virus aid in letter
Meanwhile, Co-Chairs of the Caucus on U.S.-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans sent a thank you letter on May 4 to Turkey's envoy over Ankara's medical aid to help the US fight the global coronavirus pandemic.
They include Republican Congressmen Joe Wilson and Steve Chabot and Democratic Congressmen Gerald Connolly and Steve Cohen.
Two planes landed in Maryland last week carrying hundreds of thousands of surgical masks, thousands of overalls, face shields, N95 masks and goggles as well as hundreds of gallons of disinfectant to combat the coronavirus Congressman Wilson said he is "grateful to our NATO ally Turkey” and Ambassador Serdar Kılıç for their generosity.
"Through this continued collaboration, we will protect the citizens of Turkey and America from the devastation of this pandemic," he said.
Congressman Chabot said the medical gear from Turkey will help keep American frontline healthcare professionals safe as they fight the pandemic.
Congressmen Connolly and Cohen also thanked Turkey for the much-needed medical supplies and called for global cooperation against the virus.
"Our NATO allies stand shoulder to shoulder with us on the battlefield, and I am glad that they are doing so in this battle as well," said Cohen.
The Turkish envoy thanked them in turn for the letter and underlined the cooperation between allies against challenges.
"As you have underlined, we are key Allies and should stand by each other to defeat all the challenges we are faced with. Fight against COVİD-19 is not an exception. #StrongerTogether," Kılıç tweeted.
The first shipment on Wednesday brought 500,000 surgical masks, 4,000 overalls, 2,000 liters of disinfectant, 1,500 goggles, 400 N95 masks, and 500 face shields.