Turkish Opposition Leader Ali Babacan Tests Positive For COVID-19

Ali Babacan (Photo: Twitter @alibabacan)

JAKARTA - Former economic expert and head of the Turkish opposition from the Deva (Remedy) Party, Ali Babacan tested positive for COVID-19. This was discovered after conducting a series of checks.

"I just found out that my COVID-19 test result was positive," Ali Babacan was quoted as saying Thursday, August 27 from his Twitter account @alibabacan.

Even though he tested positive for COVID-19, Babacan confirmed that his condition was in a stable condition. Even so, he must still undergo quarantine.

"Thank God my situation is good now. My doctor said that I should stay in quarantine with my family for a while," Babacan said.

Thus, he said he would carry out all his work activities from home. "I will continue my work from home, God willing," he said.

Meanwhile, Babacan became the first popular Turkish politician to contract COVID-19. Moreover, Babacan has served as the mantal of the deputy prime minister of Turkey, who later resigned from the Ak Party, the party of the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Biraz önce COVID-19 testimony sonucunun pozitif olduğunu öğrendim. Şu an durumum iyi çok şükür. Doktorlarım bir süre ailemle birlikte quarantine altında kalmam gerektiğini söyledi. Çalışmalarıma evden devam edeceğim inşallah. Sağlıkla kalın ve lütfen kendinize dikkat edin.

- Ali Babacan (@alibabacan) August 25, 2020

Based on information, his resignation in July was due to the deep differences between him and the party's direction. Then, Babacan then formed a new political party to compete with Erdogan's party in seizing the leadership of Turkey.

Nevertheless, the infection of Babacan is proof that Turkey is not serious in curbing the spread of COVID-19. This is because in the last few weeks the spread of COVID-19 has increased as a result of the government starting to relax activity restrictions in order to reopen economic activities.

Turkey has previously attempted to contain the pace of the virus from Wuhan by banning several major events in 14 provinces, including the capital Ankara. So far, Turkey has confirmed 261,194 cases of COVID-19 transmission. Among them, there were 6,163 cases died.