German media has condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over his remarks claiming citizens of the central European country had to pay for COVID-19 vaccines.
Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau and Der Westen newspapers have accused the Turkish leader of spreading misinformation, citing the free jab in the country, Birgün newspaper said.
The Turkish president on Friday repeated a claim that many European countries charged for the coronavirus vaccine.
Erdoğan made the remarks as he praised Turkey’s vaccination campaign in a speech he delivered at an opening ceremony in northwestern Sakarya province.
“Today, even some of the most developed countries in Europe vaccinate for a fee,’’ Birgün newspaper cited Erdoğan as saying. “You look at Germany, (they charge) 100-150 euros.’’
Germany, which provides the vaccine free of charge, had given at least one shot to 55.1 percent of its population as of Wednesday, while 37.3 percent in the country were fully vaccinated, according to the Associated Press.
In Turkey, only 18 percent of the population have received full doses of either the SinoVac/CoronaVac or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, according to Health Ministry figures from Wednesday.
Frankfurter Rundschau said Erdoğan’s remarks had created confusion in Berlin while prompting backlash on German social media while Der Westen said Erdoğan had given false information to the Turkish nation, Birgün reported.
Source: Ahval
