Erdogan: Turkey ready to help Indonesia heal its wounds

By Nilay Kar Onum

ISTANBUL

Turkey is ready to do its part to help Indonesia heal its wounds in the wake of powerful quake and tsunami, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

In a message posted on Twitter, Erdogan said: “I pray for our brothers and sisters, who were killed in an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, wish a speedy recovery to the wounded and offer my deepest condolences to the people of Indonesia.”

“Turkey is prepared to do everything in its power to help Indonesia heal its wounds,” he added.

Later, Vice President Fuat Oktay, in a Twitter post, said they share the pain of those who lost their lives in "brotherly country" Indonesia and wish speedy recovery to the injured ones.

"We are with the people of Indonesia with our brotherhood and prays," he wrote.

The death toll from Friday’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has risen to 1,203, the national disaster agency said on Sunday.

Over the last two months, three more earthquakes with magnitudes 6.3, 6.9, and 7 hit the eastern island of Lombok, killing a total of 563 people.

Indonesia lies within the Pacific Ocean’s "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

On Dec. 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck the eastern coast of Sumatra, triggering a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people as it tore along the coasts of Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.