Turkey delivers medical aid to UK to help fight virus

A Turkish military aircraft carrying medical aid for the fight against the novel coronavirus departed from the capital Ankara for the U.K. on April 10.

"At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish Armed Forces aircraft that will transport to the United Kingdom the medical aid supplies prepared by Turkey's Health Ministry to be used in the fight against COVID-19 has departed Etimesgut/Ankara," the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

The aid carried to the U.K. by Turkey includes protective masks and overalls.

There was also a quote by Sufi poet Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi on the aid boxes, saying: "After hopelessness, there is so much hope and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun - Rumi."

On April 8, U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab thanked Turkey in a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for sending medical supplies to help the country deal with the coronavirus pandemic, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

Raab said the move is an "indication of a strong friendship between the two countries."

Turkey on April 10 also sent medical supplies to Libya to help fight the novel coronavirus.

"At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as part of the preventative measures against COVID-19 virus, medical supplies were sent to our Libyan brothers and our military training cooperation and consultancy teams who are on duty in the region," the Defense Ministry said in a separate tweet.

Turkey has been helping a number of countries to step up their fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

It also sent medical aid to five Balkan countries including Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo on April 8, as well as to Italy...