(5 Sep 1999) English/Nat
Fresh from a trip to the Middle East, the U-S Secretary of State stopped in Turkey on Sunday for a brief visit to earthquake victims and the U-S Marines helping shelter them.
Madeleine Albright paid a 15-minute visit to a tented city in Izmit, where families huddled under shelters made of plastic sheeting.
At a news conference with her counterpart Ismail Cem after the visit, Albright said that the crisis had shown that humanitarian concerns could overshadow national differences.
She praised the Greek government for its swift aid to the Turks and also hinted that Turkey's application to join the European Union should be looked upon with favour.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made a brief stop in Turkey to visit earthquake victims being helped by the U-S Navy.
After meeting her opposite number, Ismail Cem, in Istanbul, she was flown to Izmit over the region that was worst hit by the killer quake.
From her helicopter, the damage to the oil refinery at Izmit could clearly be seen as well as damage to homes and buildings.
At the tented village in Izmit - where survivors of last month's quake are sheltering while
the damage to their homes is assessed - Albright met some of the victims of the quake.
With the rainy season already starting, U-S Marines are rushing to set up some of the five thousand tents that U-S ships have brought to the area.
Returning to Istanbul after the visit, Albright promised U-S support for a rebuilding effort that's expected to top seven (b) billion dollars.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Turkey is our long time ally and the people of Turkey are our friends. With many of them in desperate need we must do all we can to help and we will."
SUPER CAPTION: Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State
Details of an aid package will be high on the agenda when President Clinton meets Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit in Washington D-C later this month.
Albright told reporters that despite the destruction caused by the quake she was heartened by the response of the Greek government who were swift in their response to Turkey despite the traditional enmity of the two countries.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"If there is a silver lining to this hideous thing that has happened to the people of Turkey it is the fact that the people of Greece and the Greek government have responded so generously to the needs of the Turkish people and the Foreign Minister and I spoke about that and we hope very much as I'm sure that he does that this kind of cooperation and understanding will bear fruit in other areas in terms of what is clearly a very complex relationship."
SUPER CAPTION: Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State
She also said that Turkey's application to join the European Union had U-S backing.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"In every single conversation I have with any of my EU Foreign minister colleagues I say that it is essential that Turkey become a twelfth candidate."
SUPER CAPTION: Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State
The United States has already provided 11 and a half million (m) dollars in relief assistance to Turkey, with much of that money going to pay for U-S search and rescue teams deployed after the quake as well as medical supplies, tents and body bags.
A total of 15-thousand and 82 are now known to have been killed in the quake but Turkish officials estimate the final death toll could top 20-thousand.
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