SOMALIA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has visited a Turkish ran displaced camp in war torn capital, Mogadishu

Record ID: 217407

  • Title: SOMALIA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has visited a Turkish ran displaced camp in war torn capital, Mogadishu
  • Date: 20th August 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF SOMALI CHILDREN WEARING TURKISH FLAGGED T-SHIRTS WELCOMING DELEGATION
  • Embargoed: 4th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia, Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: International Relations,Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVA254EQ5RDU7QC7C1UE8CM00LFQ
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Friday (August 19) visited a Turkish ran displaced camp in Somalia's war torn capital, Mogadishu during a trip aimed at drawing international attention to the East African country's drought and famine.
    Erdogan, accompanied by his family and five cabinet ministers, has in the past days appealed for more food aid for the drought-hit nation and lashed out at wealthy Western nations for not doing more.
    During his one day visit to the drought-stricken country, Erdogan visited relief camps and hospitals.
    Earlier this week, Turkey hosted a summit of Islamic countries in a bid to tackle the famine in Somalia and worsening drought in other parts of Africa.
    At the emergency meeting of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference, various countries pledge 350 million USD in aid to fight famine in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation.
    Erdogan has said he hoped the OIC's efforts would jolt the consciences of those ignoring the unravelling humanitarian emergency.
    A pious Muslim, he has called the disaster a "litmus test" for all humanity.
    The withdrawal of most Islamist militants from their Mogadishu bases earlier in the month has effectively handed full control of the capital to the government for the first time since civil war broke out in 1991.
    Somali troops and African peacekeepers are, though, still meeting pockets of rebel resistance in the city, highlighting the view of regional observers that the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents are far from defeated.
    Some 3.7 million Somalis are at risk of starvation, the majority of them in the south of the country that has been in a state of armed anarchy for two decades, complicating any humanitarian relief effort.
    Hundreds of thousands have made the dangerous trek to the capital Mogadishu and its outlying areas in search of food aid.
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