Turkey will send Zambia 20,000 masks to aid in the country's fight against the coronavirus, according to a statement Friday by Atilla Ödünç, the Bursa deputy for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), a member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and the head of the Turkey-Zambia Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group.

Ödünç said the masks were produced with the cooperation of Bursa’s Inegöl municipality and the Rumelia Balkan Industrialists and Businessmen Association (Balkantürksiad). Explaining that the COVID-19 pandemic affects not only Turkey but the whole world, he told Anadolu Agency (AA): “Hopefully, we will be able to present these masks soon to Zambia’s ambassador in Ankara. At the same time, business people will gather for dinner. What is important is to create a trade bridge between the Balkans, Turkey and Africa.”

As the fight against the pandemic continues, Turkey has come to the fore as a humanitarian leader while still maintaining its domestic success against the coronavirus.

Some two-thirds of the world have requested medical supplies from Turkey to fight COVID-19, and nearly half of these requests have been met.

The south-central African country has so far reported 13,214 coronavirus cases, 11,899 recoveries and 300 fatalities, according to figures compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.