August 17, 1999
Web posted at: 6:52 p.m. EDT (2252 GMT)

GENEVA, Switzerland -- Relief organizations and at least 15 nations lined up to offer emergency aid and search-and-rescue crews to Turkey following Tuesday's devastating 7.8-magnitude temblor, which killed at least 2,000 people and injured more than 10,000.

Israel is sending the largest team, a 200-member mercy mission, including a special rescue team with search dogs, the Geneva-based U.N. Office for Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs said.

Russia was sending a 90-member team, and the United States pledged a 70-member search-and-rescue team, along with helicopters, tents and blankets.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was saddened by the loss of life, and he promised all possible U.N. assistance. A U.N. disaster assessment team was due in Turkey to help coordinate international rescue workers.

"The promptness with which the government of Turkey has mobilized initial humanitarian aid has helped to mitigate the initial level of suffering," Annan said in a statement.

Pope John Paul II said he was praying for the dead and injured, urging "courage and strength" for the families of the victims.

The international Red Cross appealed for nearly $7 million to bring urgent assistance to some 100,000 people affected by the powerful earthquake.

The initial appeal was made at the request of the Turkish Red Crescent, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement. It will be followed by a full appeal once needs have been assessed.

Athens lends hand to rival

Turkey's neighbor Greece sent medical and rescue teams in a show of support for its traditional rival.

Greece, also an earthquake-prone country, has in recent years developed specialized teams to help search for survivors of large temblors.

Greece sent Turkey three C-130 military transport planes carrying two emergency medical teams with 11 doctors and pharmaceutical aid, as well as a 25-member rescue team with sniffer dogs and specialized equipment to locate those trapped in the rubble, local media reported.

Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos appealed for the capital's nearly 5 million residents to donate blankets, food and clothing for earthquake victims.

Germany, home to 2 million Turks, said it would provide $540,000 for the relief effort and sent a Red Cross team with digging equipment, dogs and plasma supplies.

France rushed earthquake rescue experts to help find survivors, with 61 rescuers and 15 tons of equipment due to land in the stricken country later in the day.

French President Jacques Chirac said he had learned of the tragedy with "awe and grief."

Britain said it was sending specialists to help find survivors. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said he was "shocked and saddened" by news of the quake.

The British team would take thermal imaging cameras, which detect body heat, and sensors to detect the slightest body movement underground, officials said.

Italy, which was hit by a strong earthquake in the historic town of Assisi in 1997, said it would send a transport plane with medicine and a team of experts.

Turkey's neighbor Iran, which could recall the horror of a 1990 quake that killed 35,000 of its people, offered aid.

"I ... voice Iran's readiness to provide relief supplies to the quake-stricken people," news agency IRNA quoted Iranian President Mohammad Khatami as saying in a message to his Turkish counterpart Suleyman Demirel.

Azerbaijan, an oil-rich former Soviet state on the Caspian Sea with close linguistic and cultural ties to Turkey, sent 30 doctors, 30 other workers and fuel to assist in the rescue effort.

Japan, which is regularly hit by earthquakes, would send a 53-member team of medical and emergency relief experts to the region, foreign ministry officials said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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