PHUKET - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, ''Aceh region in Indonesia has suffered the heaviest damage in the quake-triggered tsunami disaster in southern Asia in December. Turkey is ready to extend all kinds of assistance to Indonesia in an efforts to heal the wounds of the disaster.''
Holding a news conference at Sheraton Grande Laguna Hotel in Phuket island of Thailand, Erdogan said, ''as the prime minister of a country which experienced a massive quake disaster in 1999, I wanted to visit disaster-hit countries in southern Asia. The first leg of our tour of southern Asia was Aceh region. We observed that Aceh region has suffered the heaviest damage in the quake-triggered tsunami disaster.''
''We believe that a master plan should be prepared for the region. Then, there are steps to be taken urgently such as construction of news dwellings, schools and hospitals. Also, the region urgently needs waste and drinking water purification plants. The president of Indonesia told us that the master plan would be completed in March the latest. We told him that Turkey is ready to extend all kinds of assistance to Indonesia in an effort to heal the wounds of the Indonesian people,'' he said.
Recalling that the second leg of his tour was Malaysia, PM Erdogan said, ''we are pleased to see that Malaysia was not affected from the disaster so badly. Actually Malaysia has been trying to assist neighboring countries.''
Erdogan told reporters that he would also visit Maldive Islands and Sri Lanka in the coming days.
''After returning to Turkey, I will hold talks with relevant ministers, representatives of institutions and director of the Turkish Red Crescent. We will prepare a program to assist all these countries.''
Erdogan offered condolences of Turkish people to those who are grieving for their beloved ones.
(UK-ULG)