UPDATE - Eurasian countries continue support for quake-hit Türkiye

ADDS SUBHEADINGS ON RUSSIA, MONGOLIA & UKRAINE, UPDATES AZERBAIJAN, KYRGYZSTAN SUBHEADING, CHANGES HEADLINE AND LEDE, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Countries in Eurasia continue lending critical support to Türkiye’s ongoing earthquake relief efforts, sending hundreds of rescue and medical personnel, along with essential equipment and supplies.

According to the latest figures, at least 24,617 people have been killed and over 80,000 others wounded after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes struck 10 southern Turkish provinces within the space of a few hours on Feb. 6, affecting around 13 million people.

The earthquakes hit Kahramanmaras and nine other provinces, namely Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors.

- Russia

Russia's Embassy in Ankara announced early Sunday that 39 Russian citizens living and working near the earthquake zone were flown back to the country from Adana Airport.

The embassy further said that Russia dispatched three aircraft containing humanitarian aid, which included 500 tents, 9,000 sleeping bags and heat-insulating mats, and 19 tons of food products.

"Currently, a new batch of humanitarian aid is being prepared for shipment to Türkiye," the statement also noted.

- Ukraine

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said on Sunday that its representatives and Ukrainian rescuers met with officials from the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority of Türkiye (AFAD).

The working meeting discussed issues of cooperation between Ukrainian and Turkish rescuers, the use of special equipment during debris removal, and the search for people, the statement on Telegram read.

It also noted that Turkish rescuers appreciated the work of Ukrainian specialists and thanked them for their help

- Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani personnel in the Kahramanmaras region rescued a total of 51 people from under the rubble, while also pulling out the bodies of 518 people, according to the latest statement by the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry early Sunday.

The Emergency Situations Ministry later announced that a 16-truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrived in the Kahramanmaras region.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement that high-voltage generators were also sent to Türkiye.

A day earlier, the Emergency Situations Ministry said that a third convoy consisting of nine trucks of humanitarian aid was being sent to Türkiye, carrying 1,015 tents and 240 heaters for those impacted by the earthquakes.

Separately, the ministry announced that a second plane carrying a mobile field hospital landed in the city of Adana to treat those injured.

Earlier, it noted that a plane initially carrying humanitarian aid of 240 tents landed at Adana airport.

- Georgia

The Georgian Parliament said on Saturday that it has sent humanitarian supplies to the Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi after Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said the country would be sending another 60 rescuers and a humanitarian aid convoy to Türkiye.

Earlier, the country’s government announced that it allocated 1 million Georgian lari ($375,299) to provide humanitarian aid to Türkiye.

“The allocated financial resources will be used for the procurement of medication, food, clothes, medical equipment, and other items, and their transportation,” the statement read.

- Kazakhstan

Since the start of their search and rescue operations, Kazakh personnel rescued seven people while pulling out the bodies of 39 in the city of Gaziantep, according to a statement by the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry early Sunday.

The statement further said that works are being conducted in three different sites in the city, adding that another group of rescuers and a cynological crew was sent to a site in the Hatay region, where the bodies of two Kazakh citizens were found.

The bodies of the two Kazakh citizens would be transported to the city of Almaty late on Saturday, Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said during a press briefing on Friday.

Smadiyarov further said that 124 Kazakh citizens were evacuated from the regions impacted by the powerful quakes, of which 58 were evacuated by repatriation flights to the capital Astana.

- Kyrgyzstan

The press service of the Kyrgyz Emergency Situations Ministry said early Sunday that rescuers from the country rescued a seven-year-old boy from the rubble of a building in the city of Kahramanmaras.

The statement of the ministry on Facebook also noted that the bodies of the child’s mother and brother were also pulled out.

Later, the ministry further said that a plane carrying 56 personnel, as well as 75 tents and humanitarian aid, arrived in Türkiye.

On Saturday, the ministry also announced that a 22-year-old pregnant woman was rescued by Kyrgyz rescuers.

Separately, rescuers in the city of Hatay found the body of a 37-year-old Kyrgyz woman, adding that the country’s embassy in Türkiye is making every effort to send her body back to Kyrgyzstan.

- Mongolia

Mongolia's National Emergency Management Agency said on Sunday that its personnel recovered the bodies of three people on Saturday.

"The medical personnel of the rescue team examined a total of 92 people (eight of them children) at the field hospital on 11 February and provided emergency medical care," the statement said.

The statement also said that search and rescue operations were temporarily suspended due to aftershocks at 2:12 a.m. (2312GMT) and 9:39 p.m. (1839GMT) on Sunday.