5,106 tons of aid sent to drought-stricken Somalia

A Turkish cargo ship set sail on Tuesday and the Directorate of Religious Affairs shipped its first round of aid Sunday in a humanitarian effort that has all corners of Turkey reaching out to drought-stricken East Africa. Transporting 5,000 tons of humanitarian aid collected by the Turkish Red Crescent Society, the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency, a Turkish freighter departed for Somalia on Tuesday. The ship, dubbed the “Iyilik Gemisi” (Goodness Ship), was loaded on Sunday with food and medical supplies as part of Turkey’s efforts to extend relief to Somalia and is expected to arrive in the Somali capital of Mogadishu in 10 days. The aid to be delivered by the cargo ship includes tents, sanitary supplies, food, light work machinery and five fully equipped ambulances. The ship follows three cargo planes that have already airlifted tons of aid to Somalia in an aid campaign launched jointly by the Turkish Prime Ministry, the Turkish Red Crescent Society, TIKA and the country’s Religious Affairs Directorate. The Turkish donations have reached more than TL 150 million. The total number of SMS messages sent to donate to the campaign exceeds 3 million.