PESHAWAR, Dec 23: The Pakistan-Turkish Educational Foundation will soon hand over 10 new schools to the government in the earthquake-ravaged areas of the country. Of these schools, two are located in Balakot and Mansehra and six in Muzaffarabad.

The foundation said it would spend $12 million for the rehabilitation of quake victims. Of this amount, $4 million has already been deposited in the President’s Relief Fund.

Mustafa Tuncay, principal of the Peshawar branch of the Pakistan-Turkish school, told a news conference on Friday that the foundation had already established 14 tent schools in Muzaffarabad and Hazara region.

These institutions are located in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, Khairpur, Multan and Quetta.

“The foundation is providing meals to 8,000 earthquake survivors a day and had sent 21 trucks of relief goods, 4,000 blankets and medicines to the victims of the earthquake,” he said.

“The foundation collects donations from the general public in Turkey. About 10,000 sacrificial animals will be slaughtered on the occasion of Eidul Azha, and the meat would be distributed among the destitute in the quake-hit areas,” he added. About 80 per cent of students in these schools have been getting education on scholarships, who were also provided with free food and accommodation.

“We are also sending second-year students for higher studies to Turkey on scholarship,” he said, adding that the foundation had established schools in 80 countries around the globe with a view to serve humanity.

Mr Tuncay pledged that his country would make relentless efforts to assist Muslim brethren in Pakistan in these trying times.