Neighbors Help out As Fighting Coronavirus Trumps Old Rivalries
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16 Established 1961 News Sunday, May 10, 2020 Neighbors help out as fighting coronavirus trumps old rivalries NICOSIA: Face masks are delivered across dividing ceasefire line to help the breakaway north. lines in Ireland and Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates It was a rare act of goodwill between the EU mem- sends medical supplies to rival Iran, and China and ber and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, rec- Japan exchange rare warm words. The coronavirus ognized only by Ankara. Cyprus has been divided pandemic may have exacerbated global tensions, since 1974, when Turkey invaded the northern third of especially between the United States and China. But in the island in response to a Greek-backed coup. But the some cases it has also sparked cooperation between delivery, nearly three years after peace talks collapsed, longtime rivals. came under fire from nationalist politicians. In one ray of light amid the gloom, Northern Prime minister Ersin Tatar accused TRNC president Ireland’s unionist Orange Order last month secured a Mustafa Akinci of breaking customs regulations and shipment of personal protective equipment for distri- argued that “if we need something, we request it from bution both north and south of the border with the Turkey”. The health minister in the north, Ali Pilli, Republic of Ireland. That was highly unusual as union- begged to differ, telling news channel BRT TV that “no ists, who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the matter where (the aid) comes from, we accept it”. United Kingdom, are usually wary of cross-border Earlier in the year, as the COVID-19 illness ravaged cooperation, seeing it as a gateway to Irish unification. China, Japanese businesses and the government donat- But the Belfast executive, which includes unionists, ed thousands of protective garments. Chinese social also signed a non-binding deal with Dublin to beef up media users hailed the gifts, and Beijing’s foreign min- cooperation. “We face a common challenge,” said istry said it was “extremely touched” - a far cry from Northern Ireland’s health minister Robin Swann, from the bitterness often overshadowing their relations the hardline Democratic Unionist Party. “Facing that since before World War II. As in other cases, this gen- challenge will test us as never before.” His comment erosity may have been partly motivated by pragma- echoed the words of Israeli historian Yuval Noah tism. As regional expert Victor Teo told AFP, “it is defi- Harari, who argued in March that “both the epidemic nitely in Japan’s national interest that the health threat itself and the resulting economic crisis are global remains contained.” Broader geopolitical trends may also DUBAI: In this file photo taken on March 2, 2020, an Emirati man checks medical equipment and coronavirus problems (requiring) global cooperation”. have played a role. Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at testing kits provided by the World Health Organization at Maktoum International airport as tons of aid were Writing in the Financial Times, Harari warned that the Lowy Institute, pointed out that China was “always about to be delivered to Iran by a UAE military transport plane. — AFP “a collective paralysis has gripped the international more solicitous to Japan” when tensions rise with community” as the world faces a choice between Washington. The pandemic has also inspired unusual UAE did dispatch a military plane in March carrying aid official Sultan Mohammed Al-Shamsi said that “aid “nationalist isolation and global solidarity”. gestures in the Middle East. UN medical experts and aid to Assad’s ally Iran - should reach all people regardless of their back- Calls by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio The United Arab Emirates evoked the virus as part despite the fact the Emirates are allied with ground.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Guterres in March for a “global ceasefire” also appear of its outreach to the president of war-torn Syria, Washington against Tehran. thanked the UAE, calling the pandemic a “global issue that to have fallen on deaf ears, with fighting continuing in Bashar al-Assad, for years shunned by Arab govern- The help for Iran, hit by the Middle East’s deadliest requires the combined will of all countries to be defeated”. battlefields from Libya to Yemen. Yet in some cases, ments. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed outbreak, was all the more remarkable as it followed Michael Stephens, of the RUSI think tank in London, noted the need to fight the virus has trumped old rivalries. On Al-Nahyan called Assad late last month for the first heightened tensions in the Gulf. Recent months saw that “aid diplomacy is a big thing in the Islamic world”. But he the divided island of Cyprus, the government last time since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, pledging his attacks on shipping, the downing of a US drone and also pointed at self-interest. Despite their disagreements, the month sent 4,000 items of protective equipment and country’s “willingness to help the Syrian people”. No the American killing of a top Iranian commander that UAE and neighboring Iran have close trading links, and tens 2,000 chloroquine tablets across the UN-guarded aid deliveries to Syria have yet been reported. But the had sparked fears of regional war. But senior Emirati of thousands of Iranians live in Dubai. — AFP plained of fatigue and migraines. Once the doctors will crimp demand for everything from pizzas to vil- Turkish doctors leave the building, they remove their protective Gulf faces las, and the danger is that this leads to a cascading equipment and throw it into a large rubbish bag. deflationary impact with secondary job losses,” said One of them carries a box containing the sample Tarek Fadlallah of Nomura Asset Management turn detectives that will be sent to the laboratory during the day. If exodus of... Middle East. the test is positive, the woman “will appear as a Continued from Page 1 Official unemployment data is not available, but Continued from Page 1 confirmed case in our file, which will lead to a new several Gulf airlines and ride-sharing firm Careem tracing process”, said one of the tracers, Mustafa Many qualified professionals have not been have said they are laying off hundreds of workers. more than 133,700 cases, according to data Sever, a GP. spared. “You go online, you apply for thousands of Dubai, a business and tourism hub, was hoping for released Thursday. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca The tracers’ role will also be crucial to avoid a jobs, but they’re all expired,” said Egyptian- an economic boost from hosting the Expo world fair said on Monday he believed tracing was “at the second wave of contagion as Turkey prepares to American architect Nada Karim, who was due to this year but the event was postponed until Oct heart of (Turkey’s) success” in the fight against the loosen restrictive measures, including reopening start a new job in Dubai when the firm froze hiring. 2021 due to the pandemic. Last week, Expo 2020 disease. Each tracing process identifies an average shopping centers and hairdressers from tomorrow. “I can resist here for two or three months without a Dubai made redundant 179 employees, according to of 4.5 people who have been in contact with a Unlike in some other countries where tracing has salary, then I’ll have to leave.” Samer, a Lebanese- an internal document seen by Reuters. Expo declined to comment. patient, according to Koca. More than 460,000 led to debates over confidentiality and how the data Canadian working at an advertising agency in Saudi “Expatriates are not just a cog in the machine - people had been contacted by tracers in Turkey, he is used, Turkey began this route to tackling the pan- Arabia, has been put on six-month unpaid leave and is considering moving to Canada if things do not they play an integral part in the domestic recycling said on April 29. demic from the start. improve. “It is very confusing and worrying when of capital that helps sustain Gulf economies,” said To find potential cases, the doctors do “real Aslan said only the health workers in charge of detective work”, said Melek Nur Aslan, director of you suddenly cannot plan for your future,” he said. Robert Mogielnicki, a resident scholar at the Arab tracking potential coronavirus cases have access to Gulf States Institute in Washington. The flight of the public health agency in Fatih district. When a The Middle East is headed for an economic the data collected. Tracing is not new in Turkey - expats could reduce government income from fees COVID-19 patient is identified, “we try to retrace downturn this year that dwarfs 2008 and 2014/2015 Sever said he had carried out similar “investiga- as countries are hit by the double blow from coron- and value-added tax and slow reform efforts, their journey in the last 48 hours before the tions” during measles epidemics in Istanbul. The avirus closures and record low oil prices, the including reducing state spending on wages and appearance of the first symptoms until the moment tracers also rely on family doctors who regularly International Monetary Fund said. “Fewer expats subsidies, analysts have said. — Reuters when they are tested positive” for the virus, she call their patients to enquire about their health and told AFP. For this, the doctors go to the patients’ ensure they are respecting lockdown measures. clinical trials to prove that masks do work. The World bedside or home with a list of questions: where did In Istanbul alone, 1,200 teams of two to four they go? Who did they speak to? Were they wear- World leaders Health Organization also does not recommend compul- tracers constantly track potential new cases, Aslan sory mask-wearing by all.