Residents of Novi Pazar in Serbia send 16th aid truck for Türkiye quake victims

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - The 16th aid truck departed Monday from the city of Novi Pazar in Serbia to southern Türkiye, which was hit by two back-to-back earthquakes last month.

Turkish Ambassador Hami Aksoy said that a large aid campaign had been organized by Bosniaks in Serbia, with nearly $600,000 in cash aid sent along with relief materials for disaster victims.

Novi Pazar's Mayor Nihat Bisevac underlined Bosniaks' solidarity with Turkish people since the first day of the earthquakes.

The Serbian government has also donated €2 million ($2.12 million) for quake victims in Türkiye, with a large amount of aid also sent by the public on trucks and airplanes.

More than 46,000 people died in Türkiye in the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes on Feb. 6.

The earthquakes, which were centered in the province of Kahramanmaras, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Hatay, Adana, Gaziantep, Diyarbakir, Adiyaman, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig, and Sanliurfa.

In neighboring Syria, which also suffered widespread destruction, the death toll has climbed to nearly 3,500 people, according to combined figures given by both the regime and opposition.