SEPANG – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim left for Turkiye last night to provide moral support to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the people of the country who were hit by an earthquake early last week that claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The special plane carrying Anwar took off at about 11.15pm from the Bunga Raya Complex at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Before departure, the Religious Adviser to the Prime Minister Zamri Zainal Abidin recited a prayer for the safety of Anwar’s delegation to Turkiye.
Anwar, who will be visiting Turkiye for a day, was accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Amrizan Mohd Ali.
Anwar decided to make the visit on the basis of friendship and at the request of Erdogan, who had contacted him twice over the matter.
The Prime Minister is expected to arrive in Gaziantep at 7.30am (local time) today to inspect the disaster site and meet with the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) before leaving for Ankara to hold a meeting with Erdogan.
He is expected to leave Turkiye at 2pm (local time) and arrive back home at 7am on Thursday (Malaysian time) before attending the Dewan Rakyat session at Parliament as well as a pre-cabinet meeting with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
On February 11, Anwar contacted Erdogan immediately after arriving from an official visit in Bangkok, Thailand, to convey his condolences and prayers over the disaster.
Anwar has shown his commitment and solidarity to the people of Turkiye by sending two Smart teams including two tracking dogs as well as building a level three Malaysian field hospital run by the Malaysian Armed Forces.
In addition to manpower assistance for search-and-rescue missions, Malaysia has also channelled humanitarian aid to Turkiye and Syria amounting to RM20 million, while the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s disaster fund has so far managed to collect RM25 million in donations.
On February 6, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Ritcher scale hit southern Turkiye and Syria.
As of yesterday, the death toll in Turkiye was reported to have reached 31,644, with another 106,428 people injured, while in Syria, 5,329 people have died and 14,500 injured. – Bernama, February 15, 2023
