Turkish leaders Vying to rush aid to Somalia

The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party has said he is planning to travel to Somalia on the first day of the Ramadan feast. His announcement follows a similar one from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose aide said Friday that the premier will travel to Somalia this week to draw international attention to the plight of the famine-hit country. “We had a meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week about traveling to Somalia. We also held talks with Tekin Küçükali, the director-general of the Turkish relief agency Red Crescent,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, told reporters after visiting children with leukemia at the Istanbul University Hospital. “The ministry informed us that Somalia was not a secure place, but some aid materials can be handed over to officials at the airport. I am planning to travel to Somalia on the first day of the Ramadan feast,” Kılıçdaroğlu said. Asked about recent developments in turmoil-hit Syria, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “No one has the right to kill another person. Human life is the most precious thing in the world. We all are obliged to protect and support human life.” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu meanwhile held telephone conversations Saturday with Senegalese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Madicke Niang and Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, Secretary-General Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu. Davutoğlu invited his Senegalese counterpart to an upcoming meeting in Istanbul that will focus on the humanitarian crisis in Africa. The Turkish foreign minister also informed OIC Secretary-General İhsanoğlu about preparatory efforts prior to the meeting, which will be held in Istanbul on Aug. 17.