World Taekwondo is to make a donation of $30,000 (£25,000/€28,000) to support recovery efforts in Turkey after the devastating earthquake which has left tens of thousands dead.
Chungwon Choue, the World Taekwondo President, made the commitment after meeting with ambassador Murat Tamer at the Turkish Embassy in South Korean capital Seoul.
Secretary general of World Taekwondo Jeongkang Seo and the organisation’s senior advisor and former ambassador Youngsun Kim also attended the meeting.
Choue also held a video call with Metin Sahin, the President of the Turkish Taekwondo Federation (TTF) and a World Taekwondo Council member.
Sahin and other staff from the TTF have been on the ground in areas affected by the earthquake, to help with recovery efforts.
The disaster struck on February 6 in southern and central Turkey, as well as northern and western Syria.
More than 41,000 people have been confirmed dead so far and a predicted cost of the damage is $84.1 billion (£70 billion/€78 billion).
This would make it the fourth costliest earthquake on record.
“World Taekwondo stands in solidarity with the people of Turkey and Syria,” said Choue.
“As emergency relief efforts focus on providing aid to the victims affected by the terrible earthquakes, the support of the international community is needed more than ever.
“We will continue to provide all the assistance we can and our thoughts and condolences are with those who have been so tragically impacted by this disaster.”
Turkey won two medals at the World Taekwondo Championships in Mexico in November.
Some members of the country’s taekwondo community have been confirmed among the dead.
“The support that we have received here in the Republic of Korea has been genuine and overwhelming,” said Tamer.
“We wish to thank World Taekwondo for your support.
“At the moment, there is a need for psychological and emotional support as well and I believe that taekwondo has the power to help in such difficult times.”
