Erdogan criticizes relief efforts in Pakistan
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who was on an official visit to Pakistan on Friday, criticized the international community for not responding quickly enough to the earthquake hit region in north Pakistan."By the end of 2004, the world had put one trillion U.S. dollars into weapons and we have to ask how much the world has put aside for this disaster in Pakistan," he said after a helicopter flight over the shattered region.
"We have to open our hands more. Today it's Pakistan, tomorrow it can somewhere else," he told reporters through an interpreter in the destroyed city of Muzaffarabad.
"We have to feel what they are a feeling. And as people who are in a responsible position we have to take responsibility for this," he said a day after the United Nations said the world was not doing enough to help.
Turkey has pledged $150 million in immediate aid to Pakistan, although Turkey itself is plagued by earthquakes. Erdogan also noted that Turkey would help in reconstruction.
"There is work to be done here in the short, medium and long term," he said. "We should not stop with the first initial help. We have to fulfil our duties in the medium and long term, from infrastructure to housing."Â