ANKARA

Turkey's greatest strength against the coronavirus is its unity, the country’s president said on Thursday.

Speaking to mayors from across the country via a videoconference, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the municipalities have a lot of responsibility to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The president said those citizens, who have financial difficulties due to unemployment or insufficient income, would never be left alone.

"Our top priority is to ensure that our citizens can meet their basic needs," Erdogan said.

He said compared to other countries, the situation in Turkey is better, but this is not sufficient.

Erdogan said that today is the day to remember the eternal brotherhood, leaving all our political, ethnic and denominational differences aside.

The novel coronavirus has so far claimed 277 lives in Turkey while total registered cases stand over 15,000. There are near 1,000 patients receiving treatment in the intense care unit, also 333 patients have fully recovered.

After first appearing in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, the virus has spread to at least 180 countries and regions.

The global death toll from the virus has hit over 49,100 with more than 962,900 confirmed cases and above 202,900 recoveries, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.