Türkiye’s Sarajevo Ambassador Girgin visits aid coordination centers

By Lejla Biogradlija, Ahmed Nurduhan, Bedrudin Brljavac

SARAJEVO (AA) - Türkiye's Ambassador in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sadık Babur Girgin, visited the aid collection center established by the humanitarian aid organization pomozi.ba in Sarajevo this Monday.

"There has never been a campaign with so much support before. Support is coming from many countries. We are grateful for the support of the Bosnia and Herzegovina people," Girgin told Anadolu.

Moreover, he pointed out that the aid priorities are tents, blankets, gas heaters and portable generators.

"Türkiye has always stood with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now Bosnia Herzegovina stands with us. We thank all the authorities and people," Girgin added.

Sarajevo Canton Education Minister Naida Hota Muminovic, who also visited the aid collection center, said, "With each little contribution from everyone, we collected a huge amount of aid. We are sending all our love to the earthquake victims."

Muminovic wished Türkiye, facing a rarely-seen disaster, a speedy recovery and added that these hard days will strengthen relations between both countries.

Pomozi.ba founder Elvir Karalic said that hundreds of volunteers joined the campaign.

Today we are expecting about 500 people. Tomorrow we are planning to send our first truck loaded with tents, generators and heaters to the quake-hit area. Then we will send everything collected," he said.

Melida Salihovic, one of the volunteers in the campaign, stated that what is happening in Turkey is a terrible disaster and that they stand by the Turkish people in these difficult times.

Ambassador Girgin also visited the aid collection center established by Bosnia and Herzegovinian Red Crescent.

More than 31,600 people have died and over 80,000 others injured in two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, according to the latest official figures.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, have impacted some 13 million people across 10 Turkish provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

*Writing by Anna Cecilia Canatan