PM arrives home from Turkey

SEPANG - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim arrived home today after a one-day visit to Turkey to express Malaysia's commitment to helping its people affected by the earthquake that hit the republic recently.

The special aircraft carrying Anwar and the delegation landed at the Bunga Raya Complex, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here at about 9 am.

Anwar, 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, was welcomed on arrival in the republic by Turkey's Ambassador to Malaysia, Emir Salim Yuksel.

During the visit, Anwar met with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara to convey the condolences of the Malaysian people and inform him about the form of assistance provided by the Malaysian government.

The Prime Minister also visited the Malaysian search and rescue (SAR) team in Nurdagi and expressed his pride in the team's efficiency and level of professionalism.

The Malaysian SAR team comprises members of the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART), Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Force, and Malaysian Armed Forces Royal Medical Corps.

According to Anwar, as of Tuesday, Malaysia has managed to collect RM30 million in disaster relief funds for Turkey.

The Prime Minister had also shown his commitment and solidarity to the people of Turkiye by sending two SMART teams, including two tracker dogs, as well as setting up a level three Malaysian Field Hospital, which is run by the Malaysian Armed Forces.

On Feb 6, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Ritcher scale hit southern Turkey and Syria.

As of Feb 13, the death toll in Turkey was reported to have reached 31,644, with another 106,428 people injured, while in Syria, 5,329 died and 14,500 were injured.

So far, the Malaysian SAR team had retrieved 47 bodies from under the rubble and rescued a family of five. - BERNAMA