President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held a phone call on Monday to discuss current issues, including the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a statement by Turkey's Communications Directorate, Erdoğan and Al Thani spoke on the phone about cooperating in the fight against the coronavirus, in addition to discussing bilateral relations and regional issues.

After surfacing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to 168 countries and regions. The global death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has surpassed 16,000, with more than 372,000 cases confirmed worldwide, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.