A Turkish military aircraft carrying medical supplies to help Iraq fight the coronavirus pandemic landed at the Baghdad International Airport Wednesday.
"The Turkish Armed Forces aircraft carrying medical supplies for use against the #COVID19 outbreak has landed in Iraq," the National Defense Ministry said on Twitter.
The medical supplies were "jointly prepared by the Health Ministry and the Ministry of National Defense, at the direction of President (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan, for use against the COVID-19 outbreak," the ministry also said.
The aid packages also carried the 13th-century Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi's famous quote: "After hopelessness, there is so much hope, and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun," in Turkish and Arabic.
Iraqi Turkmen Front head Arshad al-Salihi on Wednesday thanked Turkey for the medical aid sent to Iraq.
"Turkey and President Erdoğan showed once again that they stand by Iraq," al-Salihi said.
Turkey has helped at least 125 countries with humanitarian aid, including the U.S., U.K., Italy and Spain, making it the world's third-largest aid provider during the coronavirus pandemic.
Iraq has so far reported more than 49,100 cases and 1,943 COVID-19 deaths.
Worldwide, the virus has killed more than 511,500 people, with total infections over 10.48 million, and recoveries exceeding 5.36 million, according to figures compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
