Coronavirus death toll in Turkey rises to 3

ANKARA

Turkey's health minister confirmed Thursday the third death from the new coronavirus in the country.

Speaking to the lawmakers in the parliament, Fahrettin Koca said that former Land Forces commander Aytac Yalman died of coronavirus on Sunday.

"He tested negative, however, his relatives were also tested and some of them tested positive," Koca said.

"In such kind of case, the test result could be negative at first, but it could be positive later … The number of deaths [from COVID-19] is three," he said.

Born in 1940, Yalman served as the commander of Land Forces between 2000 and 2002.