A video conference titled “COVID-19 Experiences and International Cooperation in Fight against the Pandemic” was organized by the Directorate of Communications.
The opening speech of the video conference, which was broadcast live on Youtube channels of the Directorate in both Turkish and English, was made by Director of Communications Prof. Fahrettin Altun.
Turkey's Ambassador to Beijing Abdulkadir Emin Önen, Turkey's Ambassador to Rome Murat Salim Esenli and Turkey's Ambassador to Seoul Durmuş Ersin Erçin gave a speech in the video conference, which was moderated by Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) Director of Security Studies Murat Yeşiltaş.
As part of his speech, Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun firstly wished God's mercy on the civilians murdered by the PKK terrorist organization in Diyarbakır today.
Altun said that even in these days the PKK terrorist organization showed how treacherous it is and it could be and added, "Surely, the Republic of Turkey will not let this brutal organization get away with it. Our fight against terrorism continues and will continue even in these days.”
Stating that they had been emphasizing on the individuals’ responsibilities about containing or completely hindering the spread of coronavirus, Altun said that they expected each citizen to internalize the measures aimed at combating the pandemic, even if they were not subjected to lockdown in accordance with recommendations made by the Scientific Board, and to take necessary measures in line with the responsibility of protecting firstly their family members and their loved ones.
“Our nation is making this sacrifice under the leadership of our President and trying to overcome this difficult period as soon as possible,” Altun said.
Stating that the Directorate of Communications also held this conference online in accordance with the social distance rules, Altun said, “While organizing this event, our aim is to create awareness about the current developments in other countries that fight the pandemic, the measures taken and how the process is managed and also evaluate the effects of the pandemic on relations between our country and other countries, where our Ambassadors carry out their duties. In this regard, we wish to discuss international cooperation opportunities in the fight against the pandemic and to exchange views on what kind of a world will be established following the pandemic. We want to contribute to discussions about the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in our country and in the world through this event.”
“Number of our recovered patients approached 1,600 as of last night”
Fahrettin Altun said that the number of people affected by the coronavirus pandemic has been rapidly approaching 1.5 million and the number of deaths is climbing to 100 thousand around the world.
Altun stated that Turkey was unfortunately not safe from this problem that the entire world has been facing and made the following remarks:
“A total of 222,868 people who showed the symptoms compatible with the virus infection have been tested and 34,109 of them have been confirmed to have the virus until now. Our 725 citizens died as a result of the virus infection. It is a relief for us in this process that the number of our recovered patients approached 1,600 as of last night. I wish God's mercy on our losses, patience for their families and loved ones, and urgent recovery for our patients. Furthermore, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all our healthcare professionals who work day and night to heal our citizens, who have been fighting the COVID-19 disease.”
“Our health system has been modernized”
Altun pointed out that the steps taken since 2002 under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have made great contributions to the fight against the virus pandemic today.
Stating that even the countries with strong healthcare systems were able to keep the mortality rate on the minimum by taking good care of patients, despite their high number of cases, Altun said, “In this regard, it could be said that the investments which have been made in our health and social security systems since the time when our President was the prime minister have also braced Turkey for the threats we are facing today in the best way.”
Looking at the period 2002-2020, Altun emphasized that the health system in Turkey performed a huge modernisation and continued as follows:
“While the number of hospitals increased from 1,156 to 1,518 in the 18 years; the number of single rooms that we can use for quarantine in the future has increased from 18 thousand 934 to 91 thousand 949. During the same period, the number of beds increased from 164 thousand 471 to 239 thousand 46, and the number of intensive care beds increased from 2 thousand 214 to 65 thousand 455. In other words, the number of intensive care beds has increased about 33 times. With the investments made since 2002 in our health care system, we see that the number of health personnel has also been increased to the required level. Accordingly, the number of doctors, which was 91 thousand 949 in 2002, reached 161 thousand 279, and the number of nurses, which was 72 thousand 393 in 2002, reached 198 thousand 517. We can see that the total number of health workers, which amounted to 294 thousand 587 in 2002, exceeded 1 million by 2020.
I think that when compared with some developed countries, the status of the health care system in Turkey would be better appreciated seeing how far it has come. According to the Ministry of Health data, while there are 34.7 beds per 100 thousand people in the United States and 29.2 in Germany, this number is 46 in our country. By putting our city hospitals into service, we expect to widen the gap even more. The fact that these investments are not limited to certain regions and are spread throughout our country makes it possible to provide services quickly to Turkish citizens in need wherever they are.”
“Today we are getting prepared for the transformation of the international system after the pandemic”
Director of Communications Altun stated that the world has passed through a historical threshold and said, “Looking back on the history of humanity for thousands of years, we can see that our species have been faced with such great threats that we are struggling with today, only a few times. It is possible to say that some macro developments in the past decades have increased the speed and prevalence of this threat. First of all, the fact that the world, except for a few, entered a rapid period of globalization in the post-Cold War era; that people, societies and economies became integrated and dependent everywhere in the world, this undoubtedly affected the spread of the pandemic we are witnessing today. Indeed, the spread of the virus from China, where the virus first appeared, mainly to Italy and Iran rather than to neighbouring countries, is a situation that needs to be taken into consideration.”
Altun noted that as the Republic of Turkey, they have been monitoring the outbreak of coronavirus closely since the early days, and said, “The establishment of the Health Operations Centre and the Scientific Board within our Ministry of Health at the beginning of January, and the management of the process by our President in accordance with the advice of our scientists, have made it possible to prevent the virus from reaching our land for weeks. If we had not planned our fight against the pandemic at that stage and had not developed our national strategy, we could have been in the situation of England, Italy, and Spain, which are now facing a much more painful picture.”
Fahrettin Altun said, “Just as we planned our fight against the pandemic before the virus reached our lands, working out all the scenarios separately, today we are getting prepared for the transformation of the international system after the pandemic. The fact that either competition and conflict or cooperation and solidarity will prevail in the aftermath of the coronavirus is closely concerned with the countries such as Turkey, which have completed their political, economic and cultural integration with the world and at every opportunity, contribute to the solution of regional and global issues. Similarly, questions such as whether or not the unipolar international order is sustainable and an open and rule-based trade regime can be maintained are awaiting answers.”
“Our greatest guarantee in this period is our national unity and solidarity”
Pointing out that Turkey's national unity and solidarity is the greatest guarantee in this period, Altun said, “Our sacred nation, which has been like one fist against the challenges in every period of the history, will overcome all the troubles even today with the spirit of the Gallipoli, the consciousness of the War of Independence, the mentality of July 15th resistance; I hope that we will be stronger after this period. We must never forget that at this critical threshold we have a responsibility to remain firm not only for our own children, but also for the innocent people who experience war, hunger, poverty and persecution in various parts of the world.”
Noting that the favour showed by the nation for the “We are Self-Sufficient, Turkey” campaign launched with the call of President Erdoğan demonstrated that this trust is not unfounded, Altun said, “Despite the pernicious efforts of those who are bothered by the fact that the State serves as a bridge between the citizens who have financial means and those who are in need; as of April 7, 1 billion 415 million 329 thousand 488 liras have been deposited in the campaign accounts, moreover, SMS worth 46 million 6 thousand 830 liras have been sent. With the donations collected here, we will support about 2.3 million families and we will resolutely continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that no citizens will suffer.”
Fahrettin Altun added, “Undoubtedly, this nation will come out of this troubled period of struggling against the invisible enemy that it has been tested today thanks to the strong leadership of our President, just as it has brought to their knees the conspires, coup plotters and the gangs of betrayal.”
“Our country has carried out its humanitarian duty that falls upon itself during this period”
Indicating that as the Republic of Turkey, they wish and work for the establishment of peace, cooperation, solidarity in the world, Altun said: “During the global pandemic period, even though the inter-state relations show deregulation trend and while we are striving to protect our own citizens, we do not turn our back on the countries in need. This is the most concrete indicator of this situation.”
Fahrettin Altun said, “Likewise, our President has been the first leader who brought up the coronavirus outbreak to an international agenda within the scope of the teleconference held with the heads of state and government of England, Germany and France; and at the G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Summit, which was held via the video conference on March 26, President Erdoğan recalled that no country could fight alone against this global crisis and emphasized the importance of taking common steps in all areas adversely affected by the pandemic without delay, especially in national economies.”
Altun said, “As a matter of fact, our country has carried out its humanitarian duty that falls upon itself during this period; to the extent possible, Turkey has met the requests for assistance from 30 countries, including the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the People's Republic of China, Spain and Italy. Similarly, taking into account the extraordinary conditions in Spain last week, we delivered 116 respirators, the exports of which have been previously prohibited.”