KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat today that he might be leaving for Turkiye tonight, to provide moral support to the people in the country.
Anwar said he would be meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to render his support over the recent earthquake incident in the country.
"I was asked by the president to be there immediately, to give moral support.
"(And) I am considering whether I should fly tonight to Turkiye to show our support.
"Several leaders of other countries have arrived in the country, and the president has asked me to personally be there," he said during the Prime Minister's Question and Answer Session (PMQ) in the Dewan Rakyat, today.
Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (PN-Kuala Kangsar) had asked on the form of assistance offered by the Malaysian government to Turkiye and north-west Syria following the earthquake disasters in the two countries.
Anwar said he had received two calls from Erdogan; first to express his gratitude for assistance rendered by Malaysia and secondly, asking him to be in Turkiye.
Meanwhile, Anwar said the government had successfully collected funds amounting to RM20 million to be used in humanitarian aid missions in Turkiye and Syria.
"This includes US$1 million contributed by the Federal government and another US$1 million from Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar."
Anwar said the government has spent RM4 million so far, to send two Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) for the search and rescue mission in Turkiye.
"The cost of deploying the Smart team has been greatly reduced as the flight cost was covered by the Turkish airline.
"Tonight, another team will also be deployed, which includes members of the Malaysian Armed Forces."
He added that the Malaysian team has established a field hospital facility in Turkiye.
Meanwhile, Anwar said the government will still send assistance to Syria, as the country deals with the recent earthquake, despite sanctions from the United States (US).
"We have decided that the funds (RM20 million) will also be used to assist Syria along with medical equipment, even before a waiver of the sanctions against the country was made by the US.
"During our meeting, we decided to send a team to help as soon as there is a response from the Syrian government."
Anwar said this in response to an additional question from Iskandar Dzulkarnain on the government's stand on Syria, after the US waived sanctions for humanitarian aid to Syria for only 180 days.