Monday, September 19, 2011

Turkish aid reaches Somalia despite obstacles

  


18 September 2011, Sunday / TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL







Turkey continues to reach out with aid to Somalia in spite of political conflicts in the region and a slow international response.
 
Ambulances donated by Turkey began serving the people of famine-ravaged Somalia last week in the capital of Mogadishu. The Ministry of Health sent two ambulances, and the Turkish Cooperation & Development Agency (TİKA) donated five more to the country, where millions of people are on the brink of starvation. The words “From the Turkish people to the people of Somalia” are written on the sides of the fully equipped ambulances, which were sent by to ship to Mogadishu.
Çadır Hospital Chief of Staff Dr.Cemal Bulut said the ambulances are being operated by medical teams primarily coming from Turkey. The ambulances have begun transporting Somali people in need of medical attention, Bulut said.
Meanwhile, people and provinces across Turkey continue to organize to provide aid to those starving in Africa. The Ankara Governor's Office collected TL 19,278,256 in aid for Somalia. The governor's office, in a written statement, said that the provision of aid from Ankara to Somalia and other African countries whose people are in danger of starvation is continuing.
Turkey continues to try to provide aid to the country's people in need, even though internal political conflicts are a threat in southern Somalia. The Somali government banned foreign aid workers and journalists from entering areas under al-Shabaab insurgents' control last Thursday and Friday, according to a Reuters news report. Two Turks who went to a rebel area in southern Somalia to distribute food earlier in the week were also briefly detained. Mogadishu's Mayor and Governor Mohamud Ahmed Nur told Reuters that the government wants the aid to reach their people, but he also does not want those coming to help to get hurt.    
The head of a coalition of Britain's leading aid organizations said the international community is now playing catch-up in Somalia after its initial slow response, AlertNet reported Saturday. Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Chief Executive Brendan Gormley said there must be a boost in sustainable, long-term aid to Somalia if future hunger crises are to be avoided.     

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