Turkey on Wednesday sent a truckload of medical supplies to Serbia to assist its fight against the coronavirus.
The truck which set off from Istanbul is expected to reach a hospital in Novi Pazar, one of the largest cities of Serbia, on Monday.
The supplies were sent by Turkey's Health Ministry and Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) upon directives by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
They include protective masks, beds, sanitizers, ventilators and various medicinal products.
Bayram Akgül, head of DEIK, told Anadolu Agency(AA) that Turkey and Serbia maintain bilateral relations based on mutual respect for each other.
Stressing the two countries have developed economic relations, Akgül said: "We have a foreign trade volume of over $1.3 billion (TL 8 billion). With new targets, we have a trade target of $2 billion in the short term and $5 billion in the medium term. In order to boost economic relations, political relations must also be good."
Turkey, as a country that has made a name for itself in the last decade with its humanitarian efforts, has already become a prominent figure of this fresh statecraft by sending medical aid packages to many corners of the globe every other day.
The first aid kits were delivered to China on Jan. 31, with protective overalls, 93,500 medical masks, 500 medical protective glasses and 10,000 nonsterilized pieces of equipment.
Turkey's aid packages mostly include medical masks, protective overalls and gloves, as well as disinfectants. All equipment was produced at military-owned factories and at sewing workshops that produce military uniforms and other clothing for the army.
Turkey has so far delivered aid to 125 countries around the globe to help in their fight against the virus, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Monday.
