Turkiye’s president delivered 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines during his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday, pledging to donate 1.1 million more jabs.
“I brought along 100,000 doses of vaccines with me (to the DRC),” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, speaking at a joint press conference with his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi in the capital Kinshasa.
“Our Health Ministry will send 1 million doses of Sinovac and 100,000 doses of the Turkovac vaccine,” Turkiye’s locally manufactured COVID-19 jab, Erdogan added.
Sinovac vaccines are produced by the Chines biopharmaceutical firm of the same name.
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) continues its support for the development efforts of the DRC, Erdogan said.
“The TIKA is conducting various projects, including vocational training, healthcare, support for administrative and social infrastructure, and school renewal,” he said, vowing that Ankara would continue to stand with the DRC in its development efforts.
Erdogan underlined that the communique, action plan, and joint implementation report adopted during the third Turkiye-Africa Summit in December provided a “roadmap in our relations with Africa for 2022-2026.”
“We will continue to enhance our relations with African countries on the basis of sincerity, brotherhood, and solidarity within this framework,” he added. “During our talks today, we have reviewed in detail our bilateral relations and cooperation opportunities. We have mutually reaffirmed our will to improve our bilateral cooperation.”
