Turkey on Saturday sent a shipment of medical
supplies, including new Turkish-made ventilators, to Somalia to help the
Horn of Africa country combat the coronavirus outbreak.
The ventilators, made through recent technological advances, will be
the "breath of life for our Somali brothers," Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan said on Twitter.
Sending the aid is not a matter of civilization but of conscience, he
added, stressing how the capability and conscience of the Turkish
nation stands with the oppressed and the needy.
After Turkey's all-out effort to develop its own ventilators, which
bore fruit last month, Somalia – which lacked the devices, critical for
fighting coronavirus – is the first foreign country it sent the
ventilators to.
At the president's order, aid prepared by the National Defense
Ministry, Health Ministry, and Industry and Technology Ministry were
loaded on aircraft Friday night at Etimesgut Military Airport in Ankara,
the capital.
The aid includes a large amount of preventive health care equipment
such as 5,000 intensive care ventilators co-manufactured by Turkish
firms Biyosys, Baykar, Aselsan, and Arcelik, along with diagnostic kits,
overalls, and masks.
Marking the aid shipment, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa
Varank said that tough times have taught the Turkish nation to be
confident and inspired the humanitarian help.
Varank stressed that they are witnessing the success of the
technological advances started under the leadership of President
Erdoğan.
The medical aid packages bore the Turkish presidential seal along
with the Turkish and Somali flags and a famous saying by 13th-century
poet and mystic Mevlana Rumi: "There is hope after despair and many suns
after darkness."
Comments
Post a Comment