Turkish AFAD sends humanitarian aid materials to the Philippines after the severe destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan - one of the deadliest storms ever to hit the country - swept through six central Philippine islands on Friday. Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay and president of AFAD Fuat Oktay are leaving for the Philippines tonight.

Typhoon Haiyan affected over 4.3 million people and left more than 330 thousand of them homeless, according to the UN figures. The typhoon especially affected the city of Tacloban where 90 per cent of the houses were destroyed. In many areas there is no clean water, no electricity and very little food.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message of condolence to President Benigno Aquino III for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan which hit the Philippines, claiming thousands of lives.

Upon the directive of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey is sending humanitarian aid supply to the Philippines with the cooperation of Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkish Airlines and Turkish Red Crescent under the coordination of AFAD.

Within this framework, a total of 65 tons of aid materials including 550 tents, 550 food kits and 5125 blankets are being prepared by the Turkish Red Crescent to be sent by a cargo plane supplied by the Turkish Airlines. Once the preparations are completed, the aid will be reached to the disaster region immediately (by the cargo plane which will take off from Ankara to the Philippines.)

Moreover, a 20-person AFAD search & rescue team in Istanbul stand ready to go to the Philippines in case that the government of Philippines gives consent.