US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has visited parts of Turkey which were devastated by last month's earthquake.

She vowed that the United States would help rebuild the region, where more than 15,000 people are known to have died and thousands more are still missing.

Accompanied by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ismael Cem, Mrs Albright flew by helicopter over the shattered towns of north-western Turkey.

She visited a tent city which has been set up by the US marines for some of the hundreds of thousands of people made homeless by the earthquake. Mrs Albright pledged long-term American assistance to help reconstruct the region.

'Human loss'

"The extent of the destruction is awesome. It will take much time to rebuild and the human loss can never be recovered.

"The United States and Turkey have stood together in good times, rest assured that we will stand by you now as you strive to recover from this tragedy," the US secretary of state said.

She also proposed negotiations on a new bilateral trade agreement and expressed support for Turkey's efforts to join the European Union.