Turkey donates 100,000 doses of COVID vaccines to DRC

Turkey'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 Erdoğan 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," Turkey's locally manufactured COVID-19 jab, Erdoğan added.

Sinovac vaccines are produced by the Chines biopharmaceutical firm of the same name.

Earlier on Sunday, Erdoğan was welcomed with an official ceremony in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, where he arrived as the first stop of his four-day Africa tour.

He is accompanied by senior Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Presidential Spokesman İbrahim Kalın, and head of Defense Industries Presidency İsmail Demir.

After the Democratic Republic of Congo, Erdoğan is scheduled to visit the West African countries of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

The four-day Africa tour is expected to focus on all aspects of bilateral relations and opportunities for improving cooperation between Turkey and these countries in all fields.

During his visit to the Senegalese capital Dakar, Erdoğan will attend the opening ceremony of the Dakar Olympic Stadium built by a Turkish company. He will also inaugurate Turkey's new embassy building.

Erdoğan's visit to Guinea-Bissau will mark the first presidential visit from Turkey to the West African country.

SECURITY COOPERATION

Erdoğan also noted the sides' solidarity on security and fight against terrorism, saying: "I thank President Tshisekedi and the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for their support in our fight against the FETO terrorist organization."

"We will continue to stand with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in its fight against terrorism. I also would like to offer my condolences for your citizens who lost their lives in the terrorist attack that took place in Ituri on Feb. 1," he added.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated 2016 coup in Turkey, and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated the coup of July 15, which left 251 people killed and 2,734 injured.

FETO has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private educational institutions that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group.

For his part, Tshisekedi said Erdoğan's visit to his country had tremendous meaning for the future of the Central African country.

Noting that Turkey would help train Congolese forces and share its experience in the fight against terror, he said cooperation in health, infrastructure, transportation, and other promising sectors, would also be pursued.

"The priority area is security, increasing the capacity in the fight against terrorist groups as well as armed groups," he said.

ECONOMIC AND TRADE TIES

Pointing out the strengthening economic and trade relations between Turkey and the DRC, Erdoğan said: "We have nearly doubled our bilateral trade volume, which was $36.5 million in 2018 before the pandemic. We are advancing towards our trade goal of $250 million."

Erdoğan also underlined Turkey encourages "Turkish business people to boost their investments," in the DRC.

Tshisekedi underlined that that the two countries had established a win-win relationship, adding that the visit would bring relations between the two countries to a "historic" point.

The two leaders signed seven agreements on security, the economy, and industry.