UPDATE WITH ANOTHER PHONE CALL OF PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN
By Enes Kaplan and Ferdi Turkten
ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish president spoke to his Kyrgyz counterpart over the phone to discuss cooperation in the fight against the novel coronavirus, the Turkish Communications Directorate said on Monday.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sooronbay Jeenbekov discussed bilateral relations, regional issues and cooperation in the fight against the virus, a directorate statement said.
In a separate phone call, Erdogan and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discussed cooperation in the fight against COVID-19.
The two leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation in all areas.
Erdogan also spoke to the Founding President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev over the phone.
The phone contact came on the day of Nazarbayev’s birthday.
The two leaders agreed on the importance of strengthening bilateral ties in all areas and discussed cooperation in the fight against COVID-19.
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 535,450 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in China last December. The US, Brazil, India and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.
More than 11.51 million COVID-19 cases have been reported around the world so far, with recoveries exceeding 6.22 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.
*Writing by Burak Dag
