Turkey donates $1m to children's project

JAKARTA: Turkey, which has been active in providing assistance to victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami, recently donated US$1 million to the OIC Alliance to Safeguard Children Victims of the Tsunami, the Turkish Embassy in Jakarta announced.

"Abdullah Gul (Turkey's minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister) presented a check in the amount of $1 million to OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, as a contribution from Turkey to the OIC Alliance to Safeguard Children Victims of the Tsunami project, during the 32nd session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers held in Sanaa between June 28 and June 30," the embassy said in a statement received by The Jakarta Post.

Turkey has donated a total of $5 million to Indonesia and other countries affected by the tsunami.

The embassy said the Turkish Red Crescent and the Turkish Directorate General for Disaster Management had raised $36 million through a nationwide donation campaign. The money is being used on reconstruction and infrastructure projects in tsunami-affected countries, including Indonesia.

Turkey also has provided delicious and nutritious bread to thousands of tsunami victims in Aceh since the disaster. -- JP