Visiting flood-stricken Pakistan, pledges unwavering support

Speaking to reporters yesterday before leaving for a working visit to flood-stricken Pakistan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that to date Ankara has sent $25 million worth of aid to the country, and that the total of public and private aid from Turkey exceeds $200 million, which will be used by the Turkish Housing Development Authority (TOKI) to build houses, schools, mosques and hospitals for the Pakistani people. Erdogan is being accompanied by a host of Cabinet members, including Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, along with Burhan Kayaturk, the head of Parliament's Turkish-Pakistani Friendship Group. In related news, asked about claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had proposed that Turkey declare a general amnesty for terrorist PKK members as part of efforts to eradicate the group, Erdogan denied it, saying, "There is nothing like this. There is only solidarity between Turkey only Syria in the fight against terrorism." Erdogan recently visited Damascus to discuss joint measures against the terrorist PKK, with both Erdogan and Assad vowing stronger anti-terrorism cooperation.