Turkey helped 81 countries amid coronavirus outbreak

ANKARA

A total of 135 countries sought assistance from Turkey as coronavirus rapidly spread around the globe, Turkey's foreign minister said Monday.

Turkish authorities dispatched aid and medical equipment to 81 countries, Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a live broadcast.

He added they were working to assist the remaining countries.

"Nothing will be the same," he said, referring to the post-virus period. "Turkey will be one of the key countries both [in the sense of] globalization and regionalization."

Cavusoglu said the virus claimed the lives of 535 expats, and the bodies of 438 were brought home for burial.

Moreover, an upward of 70,000 Turkish citizens were evacuated from 115 countries amid the pandemic.

Turkey has reported over 150,000 cases since the start of the outbreak and more than 111,000 of the patients have fully recovered. The death toll of the country now stands at 4,171.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas