UPDATE 2 - Turkish president tests negative for coronavirus: Physician

UPDATES WITH REMARKS BY TURKISH PRESIDENT; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Kaan Bozdogan and Ali Murat Alhas

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkiye's president on Thursday tested negative for COVID-19 after he contracted the coronavirus last week and he no longer has the disease symptoms, his doctor said.

Dr. Serkan Topaloglu told Anadolu Agency that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not had any symptoms of the virus over the past few days, while first lady Emine Erdogan has "very mild symptoms."

"The PCR tests we have done for the last two days have been negative. I think that our president will return to his routine program very soon, even tomorrow (Friday)," Topaloglu said.

Noting the significance of vaccines in Erdogan's recovery process, Topaloglu added: "We think that the vaccines are definitely very effective. Our president's stance on vaccines has been very clear since the beginning of the pandemic."

The president is one of the first people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country, he stressed.

Erdogan also made a statement on Twitter, noting that his test results were negative for the past two days.

"I would like to express my gratitude to my brothers and sisters who supported us with their prayers and beautiful messages from all over the country and the world," he said.

Meanwhile, Fahrettin Altun, Turkiye's communications director, said in a tweet earlier that Erdogan recovered from the disease in a short time and confirmed that the president will resume his work as of Friday.