Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has Covid-19

Mr Erdogan said he and his wife caught the Omicron variant of the coronavirus

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the symptoms he and his wife were suffering were not severe. Photo: AFP

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he had tested positive for Covid-19 but was not experiencing severe symptoms.

"After experiencing light symptoms, my wife and I tested positive for Covid-19. We have a mild infection thankfully, which we learnt to be the Omicron variant," Mr Erdogan said on Twitter.

The 67-year-old Turkish leader said he would work from home.

Mr Erdogan's announcement came a day after he returned from Ukraine.

He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kiev on Thursday to discuss a Russian troop build-up close to Ukraine's borders.

Turkey ranks seventh in the world for the number of coronavirus infections recorded since the pandemic broke in early 2020.

Health authorities on Friday reported more than 110,000 new Covid-19 cases over the previous 24 hours, and about 250 deaths.