Turkey sends Somalia medical aid to tackle virus

Turkey sent a shipment of medical supplies to Somalia on Monday to help the country combat the novel coronavirus outbreak.

An A-400M military plane carrying supplies including stretchers, beds and quilt covers departed from Etimesgut Military Airport in the capital Ankara.

On Saturday, Turkey sent a shipment of medical supplies to Somalia, including new Turkish-made ventilators.

After Turkey’s all-out efforts to develop its own ventilators, which bore fruit last month, Somalia -- which lacked the devices, which are critical for fighting the Coronavirus -- became the first country it sent the ventilators to.

The medical aid packages bore the Turkish presidential seal along with the Turkish and Somali flags and a famous saying by 13th-century poet and mystic Mevlana Rumi: "There is hope after despair and many suns after darkness."