Turkey Attempts to Claim 'Armenian' Vaccine Against Coronavirus

The Turkish newspaper "Sozcu" has reported on the biography of Noubar Afeyan, the founder of the American company Moderna Inc., which developed a vaccine against the new type of coronavirus. According to Ermenihaber, the Turkish media has notably emphasized with a tone of admiration that Afeyan's family roots trace back to the Ottoman Empire.

"The vaccine created to combat the coronavirus that has plagued the world has begun to be tested on humans. Noubar Afeyan, one of the founders of the American company Moderna Inc. that developed the MRNA-1273 vaccine, is also a descendant of a family from Turkey," the website writes, titling its publication "The Turkish Detail of the Vaccine Against Coronavirus the World Has Been Waiting For."

The publication then outlines Afeyan's family history: "Noubar Afeyan's family, of Armenian descent, relocated to Beirut after the events of 1915, which occurred at the end of the Ottoman Empire," the article states, evidently avoiding the use of the term 'Armenian Genocide.' It is also noted that Afeyan's father, Patrick, was born in Bulgaria in 1929. The Afeyan family was engaged in business, importing eggs from Turkey to Bulgaria.

Afeyan is considered one of the leading entrepreneurs in the field of biotechnology and biological sciences in America. According to the Turkish source, he has founded more than 30 companies over the last 28 years, with an estimated total value of 10 billion USD.

Having defended his doctoral thesis in 1987 at the Department of Biochemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Afeyan organizes conferences on entrepreneurship, innovation, venture capital, biochemistry, engineering, pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, and renewable energy not just in the U.S., but globally," the article concludes.