Erdogan stealing other countries’ medical supplies

Indiana Khaled

Major states like the United Arab Emirates and Egypt hurry to offer support and send aid to countries heavily affected by the Covid-19 virus.

However, Turkey acts in a different manner. It steals medical supplies sent by some countries to others, including a recent shipment of ventilators and other supplies sent by China to Spain.

The Turkish authorities laid their hands on the shipment on April 3, only two days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to send aid to Italy and Spain, the two European states most hard hit by the disease.

Spain bought the shipment from China on March 29, according to the Spanish Foreign Ministry.

It contained 162 ventilators, the ministry said.

Spanish Foreign Minister Margarita Robles said she talked with her Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu three times about the shipment, but to no avail.

Turkey wants to keep the shipment, she said.

According to reports, Spain plans to lodge a diplomatic complaint against Turkey, describing the Turkish action as a theft.

Spain has the largest number of Covid-19 infections after the United States.

The surprising thing is that Spain is a member of NATO, exactly like Turkey is. This is why social media activists are calling Erdogan a “pirate.”

Lies

Turkish affairs specialist Karam Saeed highlighted the importance of world solidarity in the face of the Covid-19 disease.

“However, the confiscation of the Spanish medical supplies by Turkey is an immoral act,” Saeed told The Reference.

Turkey, he said, demonstrated confusion in addressing the disease from day 1.

Saeed said the Turkish government initially denied the presence of the disease in Turkey. Nonetheless, it confirmed the first case on March 11.

“Erdogan tried to convince the whole world that the genes of the Turkish people immunize it against the disease,” Saeed said. “He returned, however, to concede the presence of cases among his people.”