UAE sends telecommunication equipment to quake-hit Türkiye

By Ibrahim El-Khazen

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AA) - The UAE announced Friday the dispatch of telecommunication equipment, as a humanitarian support to “reconstruct Türkiye's telecommunication infrastructure in earthquake-affected areas.”

“Etisalat by e& UAE has announced sending telecommunication equipment worth AED20 million ($5.5 million) as a humanitarian support to reconstruct Türkiye's telecommunication infrastructure in earthquake-affected areas,” the Emirates News Agency reported.

The group stated that the step comes as an extension of a “previous initiative launched by the e& group, which affirms its keenness to participate in the "Gallant Knight / 2" campaign, initiated by President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to support the earthquake-affected people in Türkiye and Syria,” according to the agency.

The equipment includes "more than 4,000 radio and digital units to reactivate damaged mobile phone networks and restore the disrupted services.”

The Emirati Etisalat Group announced, in February, “free calls from its UAE network to Syria and Türkiye for a week as part of its humanitarian support to the people in the two countries affected by the recent earthquake.”

UAE has sent a total of 5,848 tons of aid to Türkiye and Syria with 209 cargo planes as part of Operation Gallant Knight 2, and about 4,000 cases were treated in its field hospital in Gaziantep, UAE Defense Ministry stated on Thursday.

On the directives of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Operation Gallant Knight 2 was launched on Feb. 7 to support those affected by the quakes in Türkiye and Syria.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report