Turkey Asks China to Clarify Aid Packages to Armenia

ANKARA — Turkey asked China for clarification about aid packages sent to Armenia that bore a reference to Ararat Mountain, said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy according to Hurriet Daily report.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said China’s Ambassador to Ankara Deng Li and Beijing’s Foreign Ministry have shown efforts to resolve the issue.

“Ambassador Deng said their aid packages to Armenia was prepared by a local authority and were sent to Yerevan,” said Aksoy. “The aforementioned authority only wrote Chinese scripts on the packs, and there are no references to Ararat Mountain in them. The references, which were written in English, were added later.”

Deng is currently investigating the situation and Turkey will be informed of results.

“With this incident, [Deng] said he has full respect for Turkey’s sovereignty and unity of land,” Aksoy added.

A charter flight from China transported a batch of medical supplies and equipment to Armenia on April 8 that included 120 lung ventilation devices, two oxygen supply stations, 60,000 COVID-19 test kits, 280 000 protective masks, 20 000 protective glasses, 100 000 protective garments, as well as medicines.

“May our Friendship be higher than Mount Ararat and longer than Yangtze River,” reads a note on some of the parcels.