Somalia a test for humanity, says Turkey

Turkey hosted an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Somalia in Istanbul yesterday on the drought and famine devastating the Horn of Africa. The meeting, inaugurated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was held at the call of Turkey to discuss emergency measures to be taken to save more than 3 million Somalis who are facing the worst drought and famine in the last 60 years. Harshly criticizing the international community for "turning a deaf ear and a blind eye" to the suffering of millions of Somalis, Erdogan expressed his wish for the efforts of the Muslim countries to become a wake-up call for the more developed nations of the world. "This is a test not only for Somalia but for humanity," he added. Turkey has so far collected a cash donation of 200 million liras for Somalis and delivered 10 tons of medical supplies since the beginning of the month, according to Erdogan. Erdogan is scheduled to leave Turkey for Somalia tonight along with some of the members of his Cabinet.