ANKARA 

Turkey is the third biggest supplier of medical aid worldwide amid the coronavirus outbreak, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday.  

The country also provides the largest amount of humanitarian aid in the world, he said.

“Ümitsizliğin ardında nice ümitler var...
Karanlığın ardında nice güneşler var...”

Dünyanın en fazla insani yardım yapan ülkesi olmamızın yanı sıra, en çok tıbbi destek sağlayan 3. ülkesi de Türkiye!🇹🇷

Şimdi Birlik Olma Zamanı.#GirişimciveİnsaniDışPolitika#GüçlüTürkiye pic.twitter.com/59kuWh72oD

— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) April 28, 2020

On Twitter, Cavusoglu shared a message with the hashtags #StrongTurkey and #HumanitarianForeignPolicy, citing the words of 13th century scholar Jalaluddin Rumi, which were printed on boxes containing medical aid for the US: "After hopelessness, there is so much hope, and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun."

In his message, he included a photo of a medical aid plane from Turkey, saying: "In addition to providing the largest amount of humanitarian aid in the world, Turkey is the third biggest supplier of medical aid worldwide during the coronavirus outbreak.”

A Turkish military plane carrying medical supplies landed in the US on Tuesday to support the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic as it reported over one million confirmed cases.

Prepared under the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and by Turkey's National Defense Ministry, the medical aid included 500,000 surgical masks, 4,000 overalls, 2,000 liters of disinfectant, 1,500 goggles, 400 N-95 masks and 500 face shields, according to the Turkish presidency.

The country's defense ministry has also sent medical aid to Spain, Italy, the UK, Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Libya and Somalia.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut