Armenia sends aid for quake survivors in Turkey

Armenia has sent a plane to Turkey as part of international aid that started pouring into the country since Monday, local newspaper Today's Zaman reported on Saturday. Gagik Kostandyan, an Armenian official, was quoted as saying in Erzurum airport where the aid plane landed on Friday afternoon that Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan called President Abdullah Gul and expressed Armenia's readiness to send aid. Kostandyan said the Armenian government which also delivered aid to Turkey in the 1999 earthquake sent 111 tents, 4,345 blankets, 36 beds, six bedsheets and 474 sleeping bags. The Armenian official said Turkey did not accept food aid but asked for tents. He said that "we are ready to offer every kind of support if needed. We would like the two countries to enjoy good relations. This is a humanitarian aid. We are two neighboring countries."