Aid consortium 'We help together' carries relief materials from Germany to quake-hit Türkiye

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) — In a joint initiative to help earthquake victims in southern Türkiye, six European logistics and shipping companies have carried around 450 tons of urgently needed relief supplies from Germany to the region, according to a statement on Wednesday.

According to a statement by SunExpress, a joint venture of flag carrier Turkish Airlines and Germany's Lufthansa, on the activities of the aid consortium "We help together," more than 3,000 shipments have been received at the parcel stores of delivery service DPD and prepared for onward transport at FIEGE logistics centers.

The aid was transported on eight cargo flights carried out by SunExpress and Lufthansa Cargo to Türkiye, noted the airline. Logistics company time:matters and customs agency Customs Broker GmbH are also involved in the airlift initiative.​​​​​​​

The companies plan to maintain the initiative over the next few weeks and have set a target of flying about 1,000 tons of relief supplies to the earthquake zone.

Private individuals have also had the opportunity to help those affected by the earthquakes on site since Feb. 20 via the "We help together" initiative.

Parcels of up to 20 kilograms (about 44 pounds) of urgently needed relief supplies can be handed in at 7,700 DPD Parcel Shops as part of the project.

The initiative works closely with Türkiye's disaster management agency, AFAD, which provides information about which relief supplies are needed urgently.

An overview of the relief supplies currently needed is published on the initiative's website at www.wir-helfen-gemeinsam.de.

"Companies can also make an important contribution and support the airlift as sponsors or with donations in kind. For example, SAP and Lufthansa Airlines as well as Cosnova have already sponsored freighter rotations of Lufthansa Cargo," said the statement.

Companies such as Rossmann, dm, and Hanseatic help!, an aid organization that cooperates with Lufthansa Technik, have donated supplies on a large scale, actively supporting the initiative.

The death toll from the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye has risen to 45,089, the country’s disaster management agency, AFAD, said early Wednesday.

On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 provinces — Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

More than 13 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes.