98 Turkish expats die of coronavirus: Foreign Minister

By Tevfik Durul

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish foreign minister said on Tuesday that a total of 98 Turkish expats died due to the novel coronavirus.

“We have evacuated over 20,000 Turkish citizens from more than 50 countries,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told TRT World, Turkey’s English-language news channel.

There are nearly 10,000 Turkish citizens abroad, Cavusoglu said, adding that Turkey will continue to evacuate its citizens abroad in line with the country’s quarantine policy.

Turkey places evacuees under a 14-day quarantine after being brought back from abroad as part of measures against the spread of coronavirus.

Cavusoglu said he had a phone call with his Algerian counterpart Sabri Boukadoum and Turkey will repatriate almost 1,900 Algerians as of Friday, he added.

On Turkey's National Solidarity Campaign, which has been launched to aid fight against COVID-19, he said the campaign was highly attracted by Turkish people abroad.

The campaign will provide additional support to people with low-income who suffer economic problems due to the measures taken against the spread of the disease.

The death toll in Turkey from the coronavirus rose to 214, while the number of confirmed coronavirus cases surged to 13,531, the Health Ministry announced on Tuesday.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the virus has spread to at least 179 countries and regions, according to the U.S-based Johns Hopkins University database.

The data shows the confirmed number of cases worldwide has surpassed 846,000, with the death toll almost 41,500 and more than 176,000 recoveries.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar