Earthquake: FG donates $1m to Turkey for relief

A $1 million support fund has been presented to the Turkish government by a special envoy of the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired), under the leadership of Mallam Muhammad Bello, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, The PUNCH has learned.

The Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Mevlüt Avuşolu, met with Bello and the other members of the delegation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara, the country's capital.

The envoy's trip comes in the wake of the horrific 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Ghana on February 6 and killed approximately 50,000 people, including Christian Atsu, a former Chelsea and Ghanaian football player.

Due to the ongoing general elections, the special envoy pointed out that Buhari was unable to personally pay the nation a visit of condolence.

In addition, the minister gave President Recep Erdogan a promissory note for $1,000,000 from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the President's letter of condolence.

He explained that the symbol was a gift from the Nigerian government to aid in ongoing humanitarian efforts to lessen the consequences of the devastating earthquake.

President Recep Erdogan was unable to personally welcome the special envoy due to the demands of directly supervising humanitarian efforts in the eleven earthquake-stricken southern regions of the country, according to the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs

He expressed his gratitude to Buhari, the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the Nigerian people for their support of the Republic of Turkey during these challenging times, both financially and materially.

He mentioned that the African First Women Forum had previously given 10,000 blankets to the nation's continuing humanitarian efforts on behalf of the President's wife, Aisha.

AvuÅŸolu also stated that the Turkish government had decided to start constructing new cities and their supporting infrastructure in the disaster's affected areas.

Source