Turkish President Erdoğan, Wife Contract COVID-19

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is infected with COVID-19. Erdoğan’s wife, Emine, also has contracted the virus. Erdoğan tweeted Saturday that the couple were infected with the omicron variant of the coronavirus and were experiencing mild symptoms. “We are on duty. We will continue to work at home. We look forward to your prayers,” the tweet also said.

Erdoğan, 67, returned on Thursday from a trip to Kyiv, for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the military threat from Russia, where he reportedly offered to serve as a mediator in the conflict.

Prior to the tweet, he appeared by video at a ceremony in Istanbul. He had been scheduled to appear in person but cited bad weather as the reason for the video attendance. He reportedly did not look ill during his address.

The number of cases of the coronavirus has risen dramatically in Turkey in recent days, as have the number of deaths from the virus.