Qatar sends 3 additional planes of earthquake relief to Türkiye

ISTANBUL (AA) – Qatar has sent three additional aid planes to Türkiye to help the victims of the twin powerful earthquakes two weeks ago, officials said on Monday.

“To alleviate the sufferings of earthquake victims, Qatar’s Emiri Air Force allocated additional 3 C-17 aircrafts to transfer 90 toilets and 25 generators,” the Turkish Embassy in Doha said on Twitter.

“We will never forget the solidarity of Qatar in this challenging times,” it added.

In addition, humanitarian aid including emergency supplies such as sleeping bags and winter tents, donated by Qatar Charity, was also sent to Türkiye to be delivered to the earthquake victims, the embassy also said.

Qatar has sent relief aid to Türkiye and Syria through the air corridor created by Türkiye since the earthquakes hit the both countries on Feb. 6.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on Friday that Qatar's donations collected for Türkiye and Syria have reached around 253 million Qatari riyals ($70 million).

Qatar also sent a search and rescue team to Türkiye and delivered aid from other countries.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in southern Türkiye's Kahramanmaras province on Feb. 6 and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig, and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

The strong tremors that struck in less than 10 hours also caused widespread destruction in Syria.

Türkiye issued a level-4 alert, calling in international aid.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report.