Indonesia stands by Türkiye, Turkish people in this hour of need: Minister

By Burak Dag

HATAY, Türkiye (AA) - Indonesia stands by Türkiye and the Turkish people in this hour of need, said an Indonesian minister on Wednesday during a visit to quake-hit southernmost Hatay province.

"We are together with them and what they (Turkish people) feel is also (what) we feel," Indonesia’s Human Development and Cultural Affairs Minister Muhadjir Effendy told Anadolu.

Effendy said the disaster will make Türkiye and its people come out stronger, and urged all international organizations to extend the necessary help to victims of the seismic catastrophe since "it's about humanity.”

The minister also handed over the fourth batch of humanitarian aid supplies from Indonesia to the Turkish people.

According to Effendy, Indonesia has deployed in Türkiye its largest humanitarian mission to a country in its history, involving more than 250 personnel, five humanitarian flights, more than 110 tons of humanitarian goods, 50 containers of instant food supply, one field hospital and two public kitchens serving 24 hours a day.

More than 42,000 people have died in the two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, the country’s disaster management agency said.

The powerful earthquakes struck southern Türkiye, centered in Kahramanmaras and shaking 10 other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Türkiye will begin constructing more than 200,000 homes as early as March in areas devastated by the twin earthquakes, and complete the process within a year.