Turkey has been implicated of seizing hundreds of ventilators and sanitary equipment intended for Spain amid the escalating coronavirus pandemic.
Spanish officials announced Ankara was holding the ventilators for “the treatment of their own patients”, despite local governments in Spain having already paid millions for them, reports the Independent.
“Turkey has imposed restrictions on the export of medical devices, motivated by the need for medical supplies,” she said, according to Spanish national media.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported the ventilators were manufactured in Turkey on behalf of a Spanish firm that bought the components from China.
Three Spanish regions, Castilla-La Mancha, Navarre and Catalonia, had bought the ventilators, El Pais reported, while the shipment also featured sanitary materials paid for by the country’s health ministry.
But before the equipment could be flown out, Turkish customs intervened. Officials there reportedly promised the equipment would reach Spain “in a few weeks”.
He added he expected the national government to issue a diplomatic complaint about the issue, which he said was “bordering on criminality”.
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