(file photo)
A statement by AFAD said that the ship carrying humanitarian aid worth 16 million TL left southern Mersin Port for Somalia.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
A ship loaded with 5,000 tons of humanitarian aid set sail for Somalia, the Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster & Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said on Tuesday.
A statement by AFAD said that the ship carrying humanitarian aid worth 16 million TL left southern Mersin Port for Somalia.
Turkey initiated a country-wide aid campaign to help Somalia. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Mogadishu and several refugee camps in the country, pledging more aid in cash and infrastructure.
Turkey has so far sent 11 planes and 8 ships of humanitarian relief supplies to famine-stricken Somalia.
Somalia is currently facing with one of the worst droughts in the past 60 years.
The epicenter of the drought lies on the three-way border shared by Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, a nomadic region where families heavily depend on the health of their livestock. Uganda and Djibouti have also been hit by the disaster.
Tens of thousands of people have so far been displaced due to the humanitarian situation in the region.