Albania, North Macedonia mark day of mourning over quakes in Türkiye, Syria

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Albania and North Macedonia marked a day of national mourning on Monday over last week's devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

Flags of state institutions and public places were lowered to half-staff throughout the day of mourning declared by the two governments.

The overseas diplomatic representations of the two nations also lowered their flags to half-staff, as was Albania's at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Albanian President Bajram Begaj shared a photo on Twitter of the Albanian flag lowered halfway in front of the presidential building, expressing solidarity with the families affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

"Albanians will never forget Türkiye's assistance in the earthquake that took place in Albania on November 29, 2019," said Begaj.

The country's Prime Minister Edi Rama also shared a photo of the flag being lowered to half-staff at the Council of Ministers building.

Albania's Foreign Ministry also tweeted a video clip about the earthquakes centered in Türkiye's province of Kahramanmaras.

The clip also showed flags being lowered to half-staff in many other countries.

Albania was among the first nations to convey its support to Türkiye after the earthquakes hit on Monday last week.

Search and rescue efforts were aided by an initial Albanian party of 53 people from the Defense Ministry and Energy and Infrastructure Ministry, followed by an additional 20 people and five volunteers from the capital Tirana.

In addition, three ambulances, two trucks, and two minibuses arrived at the earthquake zones from the Balkan nation.

The North Macedonian also extended its condolences to the relatives of those who died in the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, as well as to all Turkish people.

At least 31,643 people were killed by the two quakes that jolted southern Türkiye last Monday, according to the latest official figures.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces: Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in less than 10 hours.

Nearly 238,500 search and rescue personnel are currently working in the field, and over 158,00 people have been evacuated from the quake-hit regions so far, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

Around 9,800 foreign personnel from 74 countries are currently working in the field, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.