Albania's prime minister donates €1M for Türkiye's earthquake aid campaign

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama donated €1 million ($1.06 million) Wednesday to Türkiye's new campaign for earthquake victims named Türkiye One Heart.

Companies, institutions, organizations and individuals made donations to the campaign via a joint live broadcast through 200 television and 500 radio stations.

Addressing the nation as the voice of Albania, Rama said they are deeply saddened by what happened in Türkiye.

''We are a small country, but we have a big heart. We will never forget what Türkiye and President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan did for us in 2019, when the earthquake hit Albania. We are ready to do our best to support the Turkish people. I am sure that thanks to Türkiye's efforts, everything will achieved,'' he said.

Albania and North Macedonia marked a day of national mourning Monday over last week's devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

Flags at state institutions and public places were flown at 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.

Albania was among the first nations to convey its support to Türkiye after the earthquakes hit on Feb. 6.

Search and rescue efforts were aided by an initial Albanian team 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 in the earthquake zones from the Balkan nation.

The donations collected via the campaign will be sent to Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and the Turkish Red Crescent Society. The campaign is ongoing.

At least 35,418 people have been killed and 105,505 injured in the earthquakes that rocked southern Türkiye last week, according to the latest figures.

On Feb. 6, the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes struck southern Türkiye, centered in Kahramanmaras and shaking nine other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa, affecting more than 13 million people.

In Syria, at least 3,688 people were killed and over 14,749 injured.