BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.10
Trend:
Member states of Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (CCTS, Turkic Council) have every opportunity to successfully overcome the upcoming difficulties caused by coronavirus spread, provided that the organization’s potential is used effectively, Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbay Jeenbekov said, Trend reports with reference to the president’s press office.
Jeenbekov made the statement at the Extraordinary Summit of the Turkic Council through video conferencing.
During the meeting, the president pointed out that giving instructions to the Secretariat of the Turkic Council on the creation of a single online platform is the right choice.
“Creation of a single virtual database of drugs is proposed within the framework of this platform. The online platform will accelerate the process of timely testing citizens arriving from other countries, as well as identifying infected and people who have contacted them. It will serve as the basis for organizing a video conference of countries’ ministers of healthcare in order to exchange information and experience, as well as to jointly counteract the disease,” Jeenbekov said.
Jeenbekov added that many citizens of the council countries cannot return from abroad due to the restrictions imposed due to coronavirus.
“There is a threat that many of our citizens working in member countries of the Turkic Council will be left without work as a result of the coronavirus spread. In this regard, I would like to ask you to provide comprehensive assistance to Kyrgyz citizens who find themselves in a difficult situation and provide them with migration benefits. In turn, I declare that Kyrgyzstan is to provide support to citizens of the member countries of the organization who are in Kyrgyzstan,” he said.
Jeenbekov added that member countries have every opportunity to jointly overcome the upcoming difficulties, provided that the organization’s potential is used effectively.
He emphasized that member states of the Turkic Council will sooner succeed in the fight against coronavirus by supporting each other and by taking joint actions.
“Currently, we are faced with many challnges in the social, trade, economic and migration spheres. We need joint action to prevent further spread of coronavirus in member countries. Close cooperation and joint battle are very important in this difficult time,” he said.
The Extraordinary Summit of the Turkic Council was convened at the initiative of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who chairs the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking countries to discuss the steps to combat coronavirus.
The outbreak of the coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan (an international transport hub), at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has exceeded 95,000. Over 1.6 million people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 355,000 people have reportedly recovered.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.