Turkish deputy PM in Philippines

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said Monday that it is quite significant that Turkey moved quickly in delivering humanitarian aid to Philippines where the Typhoon Hiayan hit, speaking to journalists at the Airport in the capital of Philippines, Manila.  Atalay travelled to Philippines to visit the disaster area to see the humanitarian crisis on site.  "I will meet my Philippine counterpart tomorrow. I will present Turkey's condolences to him and we will discuss whether they have any other aid requests from us," said Atalay. Stating that he will meet UN's emergency aid coordinator Valerie Amos on Tuesday, Atalay said they will make a joint call for the world to extend humanitarian aid to the typhoon-stricken people in the country. Stating that according to the UN, 4.5 million people have been affected by the typhoon and approximately 330 thousand people lost their houses. Atalay also said that the death toll is not clear yet but the Philippines Red Crescent estimates stand around 200-300 thousand. He said Turkish PM Erdogan sent a telegraph to his Philippine counterpart expressing his condolences and reiterated Turkey's readiness to send humanitarian aid. The Turkish Red Crescent has sent 65 tons of aid to the disaster-hit Philippines on Monday. Red Crescent's cargo plane also carrying a rescue team has arrived in the Philippines at 16:00 Turkish time.