Burc Eruygur
12 February 2023•Update: 13 February 2023
ISTANBUL
Countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus 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.
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.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry later said in a statement that high-voltage generators were also sent to Türkiye.
A day earlier, the 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.
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.
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.
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.
