Turkey's President Erdogan tests positive for COVID-19

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday (February 5) that he had tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

"The result of our COVID-19 tests done after showing mild symptoms with my wife came back positive.

Thank god we are going through Omicron variant of the disease mildly," Erdogan said in a tweet, shortly after addressing a rally in Black Sea province of Zonguldak via video conference.

Bugün hafif belirtiler üzerine eşimle birlikte yaptırdığımız COVID-19 testimizin sonucu pozitif çıktı. Omicron varyantı olduğunu öğrendiğimiz hastalığı hamdolsun hafif geçiriyoruz.

Görevimizin başındayız. Çalışmalarımıza evde devam edeceğiz. Dualarınızı bekliyoruz.

— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) February 5, 2022

Erdogan also said he will continue his work from home during their recovery.

Erdogan made a speech via live videolink during the opening ceremony of a road and tunnels in northern Black Sea province of Zonguldak earlier on Saturday.

Party officials, ministers and opposition leaders have sent wishes of fast recovery following the announcement.

On Thursday, in a trip to Kyiv, Erdogan held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and offered to host a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy.