507 Turkish citizens abroad died due to COVID-19: Minister

Turkey's foreign minister on May 12 said that 507 Turkish citizens living abroad died due to the novel coronavirus.

Bodies of over 400 Turkish expats were already brought to Turkey, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said during an interview with the local broadcaster Akit TV.

Çavuşoğlu said that over 65,000 Turkish expats from 110 countries have been carried back to the home since the outbreak of the virus.

A total of 300 Turkish citizens from Kazakhstan will be brought to Turkey by a Turkish Airlines flight today, he said, adding another flight will evacuate citizens from the Dominican Republic and surrounding countries tonight.

The same flight will also bring back Bulgarian, Romanian and Azerbaijan citizens, he added.

Highlighting difficulties of expats' evacuation especially from some counties in Africa and Latin America due to strict quarantine measures, Çavuşoğlu said: "We are taking care of those we cannot bring back one by one. We have sent
additional fund to our missions."

Çavuşoğlu said that around 500 Turkish citizens in several countries are under coronavirus treatment, and Turkey's missions in these countries are in contact with citizens.

The top diplomat also said that Turkey continues sending aid to other countries and a total of 79 countries received Turkish assistance.

"We have not requested a donation from any country or needed it." In April, Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey is the third biggest supplier of medical aid worldwide amid the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19,