Turkey has provided US$2 million in financial support to help China relieve victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Sichuan Province on Monday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Saturday.

"As a country that knows well the destructive effects of earthquakes and the importance of international solidarity during sensitive periods, Turkey does not leave China alone in these hard days," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Sichuan Province in southwest China on Monday, killing at least 28,881 people nationwide.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2008)