Turkish military deploys aid ship to Somalia

ANKARA (A.A) - August 22, 2011 - Turkish military will send a cargo ship to carry relief supplies to famine-stricken Somalia.
In a statement posted on its internet site on Monday, Turkish Chief of General Staff said that the ship would set sail to Somalia as part of Turkey's humanitarian aid campaign to help Somali people struggling with famine and cholera epidemic caused by drought.
Turkey has recently initiated an aid campaign to help Somalia. A total of 245.2 million Turkish liras (around 137 million USD) have been collected in donations for Somalia and Africa as August 18 in Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week visited Mogadishu and several refugee camps in the country, pledging more aid in cash and infrastructure.
Turkish frigate TCG Gediz will escort the cargo ship during its journey to Somalia in a bid to avoid any maritime piracy cases, military's statement said.
After its escort mission, TCG Gediz will join CTF-151, a multinational task force carrying out counter-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, the statement added.