“Turkey achieved success not by using the algorithms suggested by the World Health Organization but rather the treatment algorithms it developed itself!” Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

This attitude demonstrated by Ankara may be likebed to the U.S. administration’s attitude toward WHO, however, this is not the actual expectation.

As the epidemic continues to wreak havoc in Europe and the U.S., especially while the approach adopted by their governments in fighting the epidemic is ruining both their prestige and humanitarian image, Turkey instead is mass-producing the respiratory devices which these countries are barely able to scrounge up, opening gigantic hospitals, reaching out a helping hand to 54 countries and, even as I write this article, it is sending aid to the U.S. It even retrieves its infected patients from the heart of the countries that are said to be leaders in social policies by private aircraft, and treats them.

In other words?

Ankara is not doing any of this to put on a show. Neither is it doing it to flex its muscles against other countries. It is doing it to show that the world does not run with real political preferences alone in international relations, that it must also be supported by moral/ethical policies, and to show that this is what Turkey prefers.

Yet, how could this appear in the new order in practical terms?

First, the tension between Washington and WHO is obvious. After making a statement along the lines of, “We are going to fund you, but you work for China,” the White House cut off its support. It says, “You are going to listen to me alone.” Since its expectations are not being met despite donating half a million dollars, then it has the right to complain. Then again, we should take a look at WHO’s structure.

It all appears to be fine on paper, but if in addition to the U.S., 10 percent of WHO’s financing is provided by organizations such as the Bill Gates Foundation, with affiliations in the U.S. as well as China and Africa, and partnerships with a series of powerful global companies like itself, then one must approach the matter with skepticism.

One may inquire if there could to be an underlying matter. Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan had a favorite Russian proverb: “Trust but verify.” Therefore, even if we trusted Gates and others like him, we are unable to verify. There is so much criticism coming from serious sources regarding their global operations that it is not possible to trust them.

Finally, it should also be noted that there are far too many complaints by writers and critics concerning the style and manner in which WHO is carrying on its fight against the epidemic. They are also suspicious of the situation.

However, Turkey does not act out of a concern to meet the expectations of neither another country nor WHO.

During the last Turkey-WHO meeting held on April 30, Health Minister Koca said: “Once we overcome these difficult times, we should all sit down and evaluate where we went wrong.” Since Turkey made no mistake, what more could have been said?

Koca’s implication at a routine press conference on April 29 that Turkey’s preferences differ with respect to some of the practices adopted by WHO or other countries in the fight against the epidemic is important. He underlined that certain interventions are different. For example, the timing of the intubation of patients. He pointed out that it does not help patients. In brief, he mentioned a “Turkish medical style” that has been found to work in the fight against the epidemic, and added that it will be shared with the world in scientific articles.

Second, after having triumphed against the epidemic, China has been observed to launch a major support campaign to countries requesting help to fight off the virus, that it is doing this as a part of applying soft power, and, though we have no knowledge about it, it is thinking about establishing an international organization/umbrella. The state of relations between the U.S. and China is obvious. As a matter of fact, everybody is stating that this competition will be further exacerbated post epidemic. Nevertheless, even though Washington and WHO may be at each other’s throats, it will not accept such a Chinese leadership.

Thus, the most successful countries in the efforts to overcome and manage the COVID-19 crisis are obvious: Denmark, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Qatar, Germany and, of course, Turkey, among others.

Now, “As one of the countries with the most effective efforts against COVID-19, Turkey is drawing attention with its well-equipped state-of-the-art hospitals and high number of beds. In this respect, during the process of the virus rapidly spreading from one point and a single person to all corners of the earth and to millions of people, Turkey has been informing the world public correctly and on time. Moreover, it can even lead the launch of a new global institutional formation and the shaping of the new institutional structure that will emerge in place of the World Health Organization, which clearly lacks the competence to effectively manage the process in international partnership. During this process, steps may be taken with the countries whose decisions have been acknowledged as the most fitting and effective in dealing with the epidemic during the crisis period. It could be emphasized that the most fundamental working principle of the new global formation which may be suggested is to timely share correct information concerning matters deeply affecting human life, free from any political or economic idea.” (“Covid-19 sonrası dönemde pozitif ayrışma” (Positive disintegration post-COVID-19 ), Prof. M. Kibaroğlu, p. 50-53, Covid-19 Sonrası Küresel Sistem: Eski Sorunlar, Yeni Trendler (Global System After COVID-19: Old Problems, New Trends), SAM.)

There is still much to do in order to solidify this international leadership endeavor, which may be developed in the health field. But this would be a great way to start.

Shedding light on the recent world slogan that “nothing will ever be the same,” we see that there might be an addition to the Mediterranean-energy equations, to the risks and opportunities ahead of Turkey. There are still many steps waiting to be taken, including economic measures.

The circumstances are convenient. Let us get started.