Türkiye on Sunday continued its efforts to address the needs of the Pakistani people following devastating floods that left one-third of the country covered with water.
The Interior Ministry last week announced that it had sent notices to request aid from 81 province’s governorates for flood-hit Pakistan as part of a relief project in coordination with the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
Within this scope, the provinces of Kayseri, Kilis and Kastamonu sent aid trucks to Pakistan on Sunday.
Kastamonu Governor Avni Çakır told reporters that Pakistan was experiencing a great disaster and that they started an aid campaign for the friendly and brotherly country Pakistan and its people due to the great flood disaster they have experienced.
"We are sending off 2,150 food packages and 450 hygiene packages from Kastamonu today for the kindness train that will depart for Pakistan tomorrow. With the campaign we organized in our 19 districts and centers, the packages were prepared in four days. We will expand this campaign to greater masses. On the other hand, another 1,500 food packages continue to be prepared,” he said.
At least 33 million people have been affected by the unprecedented floods, which most observers say came as a direct result of climate change, and Pakistani officials say pose an existential threat to the country.
Pakistan's Finance Ministry estimated that the floods had inflicted damage worth at least $12 billion to the country's economy, which was already struggling in the face of high fiscal and current account deficits.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif discussed the latest situation in the country and aid efforts in a phone call on Sunday.
Erdoğan said that he is closely following Pakistan's fight against the flood disaster and that as Türkiye the country mobilizes to provide the needed support.
Türkiye was one of the first responders to the situation in Pakistan and has sent 12 planes and three trainloads of rescue and relief material to help victims.
A Turkish ministerial delegation also headed to Pakistan last week in a show of solidarity and support for the South Asian country.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, Environment Minister Murat Kurum and the heads of AFAD and the Turkish Housing Development Administration (TOKI) visited flood-hit regions, including the Badin district of Sindh.
AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay), along with other Turkish nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are working to help victims.
Turkish Red Crescent International Delegation and Operations Manager Anıl Kocabal told Anadolu Agency (AA) that due to the flood disaster in Pakistan, the Turkish Red Crescent shipped 100 tons of material to the country by rail and 25 tons of material to Balochistan by road.
Explaining that 6,000 families had health inspections in Balochistan, Kocabal said that 300 families were provided with hygiene and shelter support in the city of Jafarabad and that 250 tents were set up in Sindh.
Kocabal noted that they continue their aid efforts at various points in Balochistan and Sindh provinces without interruption.
