Erdoğan warns G20 leaders against unilateral policies in COVID-19 fight

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned the world's 20 major industrialized nations that no one can afford to implement protective and unilateral policies during the COVID-19 outbreak, at an emergency virtual summit on March 26.

"I believe that this pandemic has once again reminded us that although our languages, religions and countries are different, we share the same fate. None of us can afford to implement protective and unilateral policies," he said.

Addressing a virtual gathering of G20 leaders via video conference, Erdoğan stressed that the experience in controlling the pandemic and diagnosing and treating the disease should be shared.

"The coronavirus pandemic has once again underscored the importance of the G20's spirit of cooperation and reconciliation. We have to be guiding, take on responsibilities and show global cooperation during this process. As we did during the global financial crisis, we must take action immediately and exert joint efforts to ensure global confidence," he said.

"I invite all countries to participate in the fight against this global health crisis in a just manner until all of humanity can breathe easily,'' Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan said the countries must "act immediately" as they did during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. "No country has the luxury of implementing protectionist, unilateral policies," said the president, according to Anadolu Agency.

"All measures to tackle coronavirus should be compatible with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules, and encourage global cooperation," Erdogan said, adding that the coronavirus outbreak once again demonstrated the importance of cooperation and reconciliation in the G20 bloc. He also urged countries to share their experiences with controlling...