STORY: U.S. lab-leak hypothesis of COVID-19 reveals desperation amid int'l competition: Turkish academic
DATELINE: June 24, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:16
LOCATION: ISTANBUL, Türkiye
CATEGORY: HEALTH

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Turkish academic Baris Doster
2. various of the U.S.
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): BARIS DOSTER, Scholar with the Istanbul-based Marmara University
4. various of Turkish academic Baris Doster
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): BARIS DOSTER, Scholar with the Istanbul-based Marmara University
6. various of the U.S.
7. various of China
8. various of medical operations related to COVID-19

STORYLINE:

The United States lab-leak hypothesis about the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak, even in the post-pandemic period, reveals its massive loss of international competitiveness and tremendous desperation, according to a Turkish academic.

Baris Doster, an academic at the Istanbul-based Marmara University, said there are many scientific researches that have disproved the American hypothesis.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): BARIS DOSTER, Scholar with the Istanbul-based Marmara University
"The world's most respected scientists, the most distinguished scientific institutions, research centers, and laboratories have produced tens and hundreds of articles on the origins of COVID-19. Books have been written, and papers have been presented.
However, the fact that the U.S. still insists on its accusations at a time when the epidemic has largely lost its impact reveals its lack of logic, ulterior motives, and desperation in the fields of economic competition and foreign policy."

Doster noted that behind the U.S. "irrational obsession" on that matter lies the inability of the American government to stop the rise and the growth of Asia and Eurasia in general and China in particular in the fields of international politics and their contribution to the growth of the global economy.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): BARIS DOSTER, Scholar with the Istanbul-based Marmara University
"But there's something else here. Let's not leave it out. There is also the U.S. detachment from science and scientific reality.
In other words, you can see how a country like the U.S., which until recently had the world's most distinguished universities known for attracting bright minds from around the world and famous for its laboratories, has become detached from reason, science, and reality when it comes to target China."

A science-based report published by an expert panel in Science magazine in October 2022 overwhelmingly supported zoonotic hypotheses and concluded that the COVID-19 virus likely spread naturally in a zoonotic jump from an animal to humans, without help from a lab.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Istanbul, Türkiye.
(XHTV)