Turkey shall adopt to post-coronavirus world order, says communications director

ANKARA

The post-coronavirus world order will be different than that of today and the previous era and Turkey has to make its efforts to be ready for this future, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said at a teleconference meeting with Turkey’s ambassadors in China, South Korea and Italy.

“We have to think as of today how the international system will evolve,” he said, speaking at the video conference titled “COVID-19 Experiences and International Cooperation in Fighting the Outbreak” by the Directorate of Presidential Communication.

“On this occasion, we wish to lay down the possibilities of international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic and to exchange views on how to build a world after the pandemic. Because tomorrow, the world to be established after the coronavirus pandemic has passed, will be a different world than the world of yesterday or today. We definitely have preparations for this world,” Altun said.

In his statement, Altun said Turkey wants peace, cooperation, and solidarity to prevail in the world and makes efforts to this end. “We do not turn our backs to countries in need, while we strive to protect our own citizens in this global pandemic period when even inter-state relations showed a deregulation trend,” he said, noting that this situation is a concrete indicator of Turkey’s approach.

When compared the state of Turkey’s health system by some developed countries, one can appreciate the country’s development, he said. According to Health Ministry data, while there are 34.7 beds per 100,000 people in the United States and 29.2 in Germany, this number is 46 in Turkey, he stated.

“We expect to make the difference even more with the commissioning of our city hospitals,” Altun noted.

Recalling the donation campaign launched by the Turkish presidency, Altun said 1,415,329,488 Turkish Liras were accumulated at the bank accounts as of April 7 and 46,600,830 Turkish Liras were donated through the SMS campaign. This amount will be used for aid to 2.3 million families in Turkey, he said.

Turkey’s Ambassador to Beijing Abdulkadir Emin, Ambassador to Rome Murat Salim Esenli and Ambassador to Seoul Ersin Erçin expressed the situation of the outbreak in the countries of their mission and the Turkish citizens there and the conference was moderated by SETA Security Studies Director Murat Yeşiltaş.