UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (AFP) - Turkey asked the General Assembly on Thursday to support a joint Greek-Turkish resolution to enhance the role of the UN in responding to earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem thanked world leaders for "the exemplary display of solidarity and the swift response of the international community" to the quake which killed more than 15,000 people in his country on August 17.

On Wednesday, the Greek foreign minister, Georges Papandreou, told the Assembly that Turkey and Greece had agreed to set up a joint stand-by disaster response unit.

The unit, comprising government and non-governmental agencies of both countries, would "reinforce the UN capacity in this field," he said.

Cem said Turkey and Greece would introduce a draft resolution to the back up the initiative, and he asked the Assembly to support it.

Cem also expressed "deep feelings of sympathy for and solidarity with those affected by the earthquake near Taipei" on Tuesday. The quake killed more than 2,100 people.

rh/sb AFP

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