Israeli president extends ‘get well’ wishes to Erdoğan family

ANKARA

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 6 and extended his good wishes to him and first lady Emine Erdoğan after they tested positive for COVID-19.

Erdoğan thanked Herzog, and the two leaders discussed holding a meeting soon, according to the presidency.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Russian President Vladimir Putin also extended get well soon wishes to Erdoğan.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had made a phone call to the youth meeting organized by the AKP Kahramanmaraş Youth Branch. “I am not used to resting, now such a situation has happened, so they put us in isolation at home,” Erdoğan said, referring that he had been tested COVID-19 positive.

“Our doctors said, ‘It won’t take long.’ Because this omicron does not last long, they say,” he said, adding that he was resting at home, working there.

“After experiencing light symptoms, my wife and I tested positive for COVID-19. We have a mild infection thankfully, which we learned to be the Omicron variant,” Erdoğan said in a tweet on Feb. 5. “We are on duty. We will continue to work from home. We look forward to your prayers,” he said.

Erdoğan and his wife will spend the week-long quarantine in their residence in Istanbul and the president will continue to work and attend meetings online if he has to, his aides were reported as saying by the Turkish media.

The president had a busy schedule over the past week with crowded meetings and a visit to Ukraine. There was no statement from where the Erdoğan couple may have caught the virus.

Leaders from mainly regional countries wished Erdoğan and his wife a speedy recovery. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar, who himself was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, was one of the first to send a message to Ankara.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotaki and Georgian President Salome Zourabichvilis were other leaders following Tatar.

Meanwhile, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Feb. 6 announced that he had been tested COVID-19 positive.

“I tested positive for COVID-19. Thankfully, I am in good health and will continue to work by taking the necessary precautions,” the Defense Ministry quoted Akar as saying on Twitter.