ANKARA, Jan 17 (AFP) - Turkey has sent tonnes of humanitarian aid to Indonesia and Sri Lanka to help relief efforts after the tsunami disaster in the region, the NTV news channel reported late on Sunday.
A military cargo plane carrying medical supplies, water purification tablets and clothes flew to Sri Lankan capital Colombo, while a second aircraft transporting two field clinics and humanitarian supplies headed to Banda Aceh in Indonesia.
The supplies are worth about 500,000 dollars (381,000 euros).
A 47-strong team of doctors, nurses and relief workers, including volunteers from the breakaway Turkish part of Cyprus, were also heading to Banda Aceh.
About 40 Turkish relief workers have already been deployed in the tsunami-hit regions.
Ankara has pledged five million dollars in aid for the countries affected from the disaster, and the Turkish Red Crescent has collected 1.8 million dollars in a separate fund-raising campaign.
One Turk has been confirmed dead and five others remain unaccounted for after huge quake-triggered tidal waves devastated coastal areas and claimed some 168,000 lives in 11 Indean Ocean nations on December 26.
01/16/2005 23:33 GMT - AFP