UPDATE 1 - Pakistan expands Türkiye quake relief drive to 'countrywide campaign'

UPDATES WITH EXPANSION OF RELIEF EFFORTS; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said his government has decided to expand the ongoing relief efforts for Türkiye’s earthquake victims into a “countrywide campaign.”

“Just spoke to all the (provincial) chief ministers and requested them to take the ownership of the national relief campaign for earthquake-hit people of Türkiye,” Sharif said in a series of tweets.

“This is the worst earthquake in a century. As one nation living in two states, we will continue to stand by our Turkish brothers and sisters,” he added.

He said the government will enlist the business community, religious scholars, and educational institutions to expand the ongoing collection drive.

“Pakistan will continue to stand by Türkiye in this difficult hour,” he asserted.

Following Sharif’s directives, the government of the southern Sindh province announced it will set up camps across the state for collection of funds and relief goods.

A government statement urged people to donate for their Turkish brethren, who provided immense help during the last year’s devastating floods in Pakistan.

Earlier, Sharif formed a special Cabinet committee to oversee the collection of funds and relief goods for the earthquake victims of Türkiye and Syria.

Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal will head the committee, while Railways and Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Education Minister Rana Tanvir, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Religious Affairs Minister Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, Pakistan's ambassadors to Türkiye and Syria, and head of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will serve as members, said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

More than 17,100 people have been killed and over 70,300 injured after two strong earthquakes jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, according to latest official figures.

In neighboring Syria, the death toll has climbed above 3,300, with more than 5,200 people wounded.

Sharif announced the formation of the committee during a meeting held to review and discuss ways to accelerate the ongoing funds and relief goods collection campaign in the capital Islamabad.

The committee will be meeting on daily basis to ensure the timely delivery of funds and relief items to the earthquake-hit regions of the two countries.

Sharif said another fundraising campaign for earthquake victims will soon be launched in schools, colleges, and universities across the country.

He directed the NDMA to set up centers in each district of the country for the collection of relief goods.

Calling upon philanthropists to donate "generously," he said people could deposit funds and relief items at NDMA collection centers, which will be sent by air, road, and sea to Türkiye and Syria.

A convoy of trucks, he further said, will soon be dispatched to Türkiye to deliver tents, blankets, medicines, and other essential items.

A second mobile hospital along with a medical mission is also set to be dispatched to Türkiye, he maintained.

“Turkiye has stood alongside (us) in every testing hour, including in the 2005 earthquake, and 2010, and 2022 super floods,” Sharif observed, adding that Islamabad will do "whatever it could" for Türkiye despite its limited resources.

Pakistan Army and civilian rescue teams are already operating in the earthquake-stricken areas.

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar visited the Turkish Embassy in Islamabad and recorded his heartfelt condolences and sympathies in the condolence book over human and material losses in the deadly earthquakes.