Turkic world was among 1st to help after deadly quakes in Türkiye: President

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkic world was among the first to help after the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes in southern Türkiye, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

"We called for international help. The Turkic world was among the first to help. You did not leave us alone in our most difficult moment.

"Our beloved nation will never forget your support," Erdogan said at the opening speech of the extraordinary summit of leaders of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.

On Feb. 6, the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 provinces — Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa, claiming the lives of nearly 50,000 people.

More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.

"We will once again show at the highest level that the Turkic world is of one heart and band together," Erdogan said.

During the meeting, whose theme is Disaster-Emergency Management and Humanitarian Assistance, the leaders will elaborate on multilateral cooperation and coordination mechanisms in the fight against disasters, and hold consultations on current challenges in the region.

The OTS, formerly called the Turkic Council, is an international organization comprising prominent independent Turkic countries that work together to elevate relations and union among themselves.

Its members are Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, while EU state Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have observer status.