During a phone call with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey believes that Chinese COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and Turkey has announced it will make urgent purchases from China.

Turkey's decision to purchase Chinese COVID-19 vaccines reflects its trust in China, and China is ready to provide necessary assistance to Turkey, Wang said during the phone call.

Cavusoglu congratulated China on its successful control of the epidemic and highly appreciated its achievements in vaccine research and development.

Wang said that China and Turkey have conducted fruitful cooperation in medical supplies, sharing of anti-epidemic experience and phase III clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Earlier this month, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the country had signed a contract to buy 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinovac.

Koca said the vaccine produced by the "inactivated method" is more reliable because "it is the best known method in history and its long-term consequences are well known."

The more recently developed mRNA vaccines "worked well in the short term but we do not know what effect it will have in the medium and long term," Koca said in an interview with local media on December 4.