Eurasian countries provide further support for quake-hit Türkiye

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Countries in Eurasia continue to provide critical support to Türkiye’s ongoing earthquake relief efforts sending hundreds of rescue and medical personnel, along with essential equipment and supplies.

According to the latest figures, over 29,600 people have been killed over 80,000 others were wounded after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes struck 10 southern Turkish provinces within the space of a few hours last Monday, affecting around 13 million people.

The earthquakes hit Kahramanmaras and nine other provinces, namely Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors.

- Russia

Russian rescuers, together with those from Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, pulled a survivor from the rubble of a building during search and rescue operations in Türkiye.

The man was rescued 160 hours after the earthquake, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement late Sunday, adding that rescue work to reach the person took more than four hours.

- Ukraine

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS) said that new areas were defined for its rescuers by the closest coordination center to conduct search and rescue operations.

“In total, since the beginning of the work, the search and rescue teams of the State Emergency Service have examined 224 destroyed buildings and structures, provided medical assistance to four people, and recovered the bodies of 12 dead people,” the DSNS said on Sunday.

- Belarus

Belarusian rescuers are scheduled to stay in Türkiye for 12 days, but if necessary, a special team is ready to stay to eliminate the consequences of the earthquake, the country’s ambassador to Ankara Viktor Rybak said on Monday, according to Minsk’s Emergency Ministry

- Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani rescuers continue to conduct search and rescue operations in the Kahramanmaras region, where they have rescued 51 people from the rubble and recovered the bodies of 613 people.

“Additional information will be provided on the progress of operations,” the Azerbaijani Emergency Situations Ministry further said in a statement early Monday.

- Kazakhstan

The Kazakh Emergency Situations Ministry said early Monday that its personnel rescued seven people and recovered the bodies of 53 people since the start of search and rescue operations.

The statement said that work continues to be carried out at three sites in the city of Gaziantep, where the first team of rescuers that arrived in Türkiye is working.

Meanwhile, the second wave of Kazakh rescuers are conducting search and rescue operations in the town of Nurdagi in the Gaziantep region, where they have rescued three people and found the bodies of four.

- Uzbekistan

Uzbek rescuers have rescued 16 people since the start of their search and rescue operations in Türkiye, the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry said on Monday.

The statement said that Uzbek rescuers pulled two other people from under the rubble in the Hatay region late Sunday, taking the number of those rescued to 16.

Meanwhile, the bodies of 107 people were recovered, the statement added, quoting the head of the press service of the ministry Murod Sadykov.

- Kyrgyzstan

Another wave of rescuers and humanitarian aid arrived from Kyrgyzstan to Türkiye, the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry said on Sunday.

The statement said that the second wave of Kyrgyz assistance arrived in the city of Gaziantep and would travel to Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the two powerful quakes.

It also noted that a third group of rescuers will travel to Türkiye with an additional plane in the coming days.

- Turkmenistan

Türkiye’s Ambassador to Ashgabat Togan Oral announced on Twitter that Turkmens wishing to contribute to providing humanitarian aid can donate to an account established by the embassy for earthquake assistance.

Earlier, Oral also said that those wishing to give blankets to those affected by the quakes can hand them over at the country’s Visa Application Center.

- Mongolia

The Mongolian government decided that humanitarian aid with goods and materials from state resources would be sent to the people and citizens of Türkiye and Syria, the country’s National Emergency Management Agency said early Monday.

“Accordingly, five tons of meat, one ton of candles, 1,000 blankets, and 20 complete Mongolian houses were sent,” the statement read.