Somali supermodel and entrepreneur Iman has thanked Turkish first lady Emine Erdoğan for Ankara's humanitarian aid efforts toward Somalia.

Erdoğan attended the Fashion for Development (F4D) event as part of the launch of the annual U.N. General Assembly.

The runway show and awards ceremony held in New York's Pierre Hotel on Wednesday saw the award-winning model thank Erdoğan during her speech from the podium.

Turkey opened its largest embassy in Somalia's capital Mogadishu last year to help the east African country fight drought. More than 6 million people - half of the country's population - are facing severe drought and a cholera outbreak, which claimed at least 1,000 lives this year, according to the U.N.

Last August, a Turkish Airlines cargo plane carrying over 60 tons of food aid arrived in Mogadishu. Since 2011, Turkish Airlines has been the only international air carrier serving Somalia.