“Turkey will send its first cargo plane to Mogadishu from Ankara on Monday, and we will continue to send aid by plane and ship,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency at an iftar event in İstanbul on Saturday. Erdoğan also acknowledged that the Turkish nation was unified in its efforts to “extend a helping hand” to the needy, stating that many aid campaigns are being organized by the Religious Affairs Directorate and the Red Crescent as well as private NGOs all over the country.
Also on Sunday, Turkey's European Union Minister and chief negotiator Egemen Bağış announced an aid campaign designed to contribute to meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of Africans. “In the atmosphere of abundance of the holy month of Ramadan we cannot remain indifferent to the tragedy our African friends are facing, and therefore we are mobilizing to extend a helping hand to Somalia and Africa," Bagis said in a message delivered to ministry staff and reported by Anatolia. Bağış went on to say that the Africa, and Somalia in particular, are currently being challenged by the worst drought to hit the country in the last 60 years, as a result of which almost 40 million Africans are living through a long period of famine. The EU Ministry campaign is a Turkish Red Crescent-backed effort that will raise donations from ministry staff to be donated to the Red Crescent by the minister at an iftar event on August 16.
The Turkish Pharmacists' Association has also launched an aid campaign with the aim of sending much needed medical supplies, baby formula and water to Somalia and Kenya to contribute to the survival of drought victims in the region. The association will transfer its donations to the Turkish Red Crescent for delivery to the needy countries.
Turkish FM in touch with OIC leader Kazakhstan for Somalia effort
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke on Saturday to his counterpart Yerzhan Kazykhanov of Kazakhstan, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Diplomatic sources quoted by Anatolia news agency said Davutoğlu and Kazykhanov discussed the prospect of an emergency meeting to be held by OIC with a focus on the famine in Africa. Turkey previously suggested such a meeting, but no dates have been set yet.
The famine has forced the displacement of tens of thousands of people residing in the drought zone, with some families having to abandon their children to prevent the entire family from perishing during the trip. Citing US and UN estimates, news agencies report that close to 30,000 children under the age of five have died of starvation in the last three months, and the death toll is like to increase, with 640,000 Somali children currently acutely malnourished.
